


That’s Why They Call Them Crushes

by ThoracicOrchid



Category: Love Island (Video Game)
Genre: Angry Sex, Angst, Childhood Friends, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Mentions of Cancer, Movie Reference, Original Character Death(s), Rating May Change, Slow Burn, Smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-08
Updated: 2021-03-15
Packaged: 2021-03-18 18:47:58
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 35,278
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28622802
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThoracicOrchid/pseuds/ThoracicOrchid
Summary: If they were easy, they’d call ’em something else.A Rohan fic because why not?Whitney isn't excited about her new loud neighbors, Rohan and Tim.Enemies to friends to lovers.... with bumps along the way. One of those bumps is named Levi.🍿Updated on Mondays🍿
Relationships: Levi/Main Character (Love Island), Rohan & Main Character (Love Island), Rohan/Main Character (Love Island)
Comments: 130
Kudos: 61





	1. Sometimes you gotta say, "What the F*ck."

**Author's Note:**

> Story Title is from Sixteen Candles 
> 
> Chapter Title is from Risky Business 
> 
> Please Enjoy 💙🍿

"Are you fucking kidding me?!" 

It was Sunday. The holy day of sleeping in, and yet for some damn reason there was a rock concert going on next door. She pulled the sheets off of her and put her feet on the cold hardwood floor. She grabbed her robe and dramatically opened her door.

"Do you hear this shit?!" 

"Well, good morning to you too." Her roommate, Jen stood in the kitchen looking like a Victoria Secret model. "Tylenol?" She held up two little pills.

"In a minute. He's only been here for four days. He needs to understand that there is a level of respect when it comes to apartment living!"

She opened the door and turned down the hall to the right. Apartment 4C. She knocked. And knocked. And knocked. She realized that knocking wasn't the secret password that this door required so she made a fist and pounded on it. Still nothing. She pulled her phone out. 8 AM. She banged on the door one more time. "Turn that shit down!!" 

"Hey, sorry about that." The voice came from behind her causing her to jump and fall flat on her ass.

"What the fuck?!"

"Oh shit, I'm sorry, didn't mean to scare you." The face that belonged to the voice was covered by two large paper bags. "Let me help you." He put the bags down and she made eye contact with the sexiest guy she'd ever seen. Like, we're talking, slap your momma, and have no regrets kind of sexy. She took his hand and he pulled her back into the standing position. She was frozen. "Sorry about the noise. My friend is staying with me for a couple of months. He likes his music loud if you couldn't tell."

That brought her back to reality. "It's eight in the morning! People are trying to sleep!"

Mr. Sexy laughed, "Who?"

"Me, for one!" 

He looked her up and down. "You look awake to me."

She shook her head. "Well duh!" She pointed at the door to his apartment.

He pulled out his keys and opened the door. Music blared out into the hallway even louder than before.

"Tim! Turn that shit off! You've pissed off the neighbors!"

"I'm a DJ! I make people happy! Why are they pissed?" He turned off the music.

The guy laughed again. "Not sure." He turned towards her, "You hate music? You come from that town in Footloose?" 

"If you call that music then I'm worried about both of you." She put her hands on her hips.

"Well, it's off now. You can go back to sleep.... what was your name?" He was smirking at her.

She glared at him. "It's Whitney. And you are?"

He put his hand out. "The name is Rohan. Nice to meet you, Whitney." She didn't take his hand.

"Well, I just want to remind you that there are other people in this apartment complex. Have a little respect."

Rohan stuck his head out the doorway and looked up and down the hallway. "There are? You hear that Tim? We're not alone." They both laughed.

Whitney huffed and went back to her apartment. Before she could close the door Rohan yelled out to her. "Sleep tight! Take that stick out of your ass first, ok!" She slammed the door.

=============

"Making friends already?" Tim laughed as he poured a bowl of cereal. "We have any milk?"

Rohan looked in the grocery bags. "Shit. Knew I was forgetting something."

Tim shrugged. "It's cool. I'll use coffee."

"Ugh. With 𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭? That's not right."

He took a bite. "Not bad actually. Two in one breakfast! I'm a genius!"

Rohan laughed and started putting groceries up. "That's all you." 

"Our neighbor is hot."

"You think?"

Tim tilted his head to one side and studied his friend.

Rohan stopped what he was doing. "What?"

"Someone has a crush."

"What?! On Whitney?! No. She's too uptight."

His eyes widened and he laughed. "You remembered her name?" He whistled. "You got it bad."

"Tim. No. I'm thirty. I don't get 'crushes' ok? She's a snob. Bet she was a teacher's pet in school."

"Hmmm, maybe." Tim shrugged. "So, on to more important things. You going down to the club today?"

Rohan groaned. "I'm not sure. I need the money but with everything going on I really need benefits."

Tim and his buddy from college, Jasper were opening a nightclub called, The Villa. They needed a bartender. Rohan was promised the job but his life wasn't as carefree as it once was. He had just moved back home for his niece.

"Just for a while? Save the extra cash so you'll have it." He shoveled more cereal into his already full mouth.

"Remember Mason? He said the new Casino is hiring in Security. I was thinking of checking that out."

Tim looked sad. "Oh ok. I understand"

He sighed. "But you're right. The extra cash from the club would be great." He didn't want to hurt Tim's feelings. He had agreed to help him move and settle in so it was the least he could do.

"For real?! Awesome!" 

"What time do I need to be there?"

Tim shoved the last bite of coffee cereal into his mouth. "The job is yours so it doesn't matter. Jasper won't be in until afternoon though."

"Great. I have to pick Ava up from my Mom's later so I can't be too long."

Tim put a hand on his back. "It's just signing a few papers. No big deal. I could swing by your mom's and get her if you'd like."

Rohan was extremely grateful to have a friend like Tim. He was goofy and loud but he had a heart of gold. "You'd do that?"

Tim laughed. "It's Ava. Of course, I would, plus I'm pretty sure she likes me better than you."

"That's because you'll let her stay up late and watch things she shouldn't."

"She's a kid. Let her have some fun. She's dealing with a lot right now."

He wasn't wrong. Ava was dealing with more than most kids her age. Losing your mom to cancer at the age of twelve had to mess with you. She had been staying with his mom while he got things situated. Now that he had the new apartment and she would have her own room, she was moving in with him. His sister, Rochelle had made him Ava's legal guardian when she found out her cancer was terminal. She died four months later.

"Your professor called yesterday. He asked if you were coming back."

Rohan let out a long sigh. "I still had three years left for my doctorate. I don't see it happening now." He had decided he wanted to be a psychologist. He hadn't realized that to become one would take over ten years. Back then he had the time but now his life had become a damn Three-Ring Circus. He was thirty and becoming a parent to a twelve-year-old, he lived with his best friend from high school and even though he had a master's degree, he was about to go back to bartending and possibly working security. They were decent jobs and he needed the money but his life was on a different road than it was seven months ago.

"You worked so hard though. Don't throw it all away."

"I can't uproot Ava from her friends and my mom. We'll just have to see what happens."

==============

"Jen? How did your interview go?" Whitney was eating cold leftover pizza from the night before.

"I think it went really well! They said I had the personality they were looking for!"

"What does a Casino Host even do?"

"Really just kiss high rollers butts." She giggled. "If they need something I get it for them. I get to wear cute clothes too!!"

Whitney smiled at her friend. "I bet you'll get it. Sounds like a good fit." She took a bite of her lunch. "I'm glad the Casino is bringing in jobs. I need to find something now that schools out for the summer." She loved being a substitute teacher, it allowed her the freedom to write, but being off for long stretches at a time made her feel useless. Jen's parents owned the apartment building so thankfully they lived rent-free but they were expected to handle issues for them, like obnoxious noises at 8 AM.

"What's the name? I'm going to look at their website later for openings."

"The Casa Casino and Resort." As soon as she answered, music started playing from next door. "He likes his music, huh?"

Whitney rolled her eyes. "There's two of them. One claims to be a DJ and isn't bad looking. The other one is sexy as hell but a total dick."

There was a knock at the door and Jen opened it. "Can I help you?"

"Oh hey, I don't think we've met. I'm Tim." He rubbed the back of his neck.

"Hi, Tim. I'm Jen. Did you need something?"

"Oh yeah, I was curious if you had any milk? My buddy didn't buy any and I don't really want to use coffee for my cereal again."

Whitney made a face. "You put coffee in your cereal? Gross." She looked at the clock. "It's one. Why are you eating cereal for lunch?"

Tim blushed. "Oh well. Tight budget right now."

Whitney felt bad she said anything. She was eating cold pizza so it wasn't like her options were any better. "Gotcha. I think we have an extra unopened half gallon. You can have it."

Jen opened the fridge and retrieved the milk. She handed it to him. "There you go!" She smiled at him.

"Oh right. Yeah, thanks." He couldn't keep his eyes off the beautiful blue-eyed blonde named Jen. He waved awkwardly. "See ya.."

Jen shut the door and blushed. "He is sooo cute!"

"Oh no..."

"I think I'm in love!"

"Jen. You fall in love once a week, hun."

"I know!" She giggled.

==============

Tim hadn't realized the time until Whitney said something to him. He turned his music off, shoved the milk in the fridge and ran out the door. He made it to Rohan's childhood home within thirty minutes. He made sure his hair wasn't sticking up and cursed himself when he saw a stain on his shirt. Rohan's mother, Mrs. Preece, liked things neat and in order. She was always kind to Tim but he tried to make a good appearance for her.

"Tim? What are you doing here, dear?" Mrs. Preece was wearing her usual light blue apron.

He opened the door to his car and got out. "Rohan's busy with a job interview. Told him I'd pick Ava up for him."

She hugged him warmly, "How kind of you! Please come in. She's still packing."

Tim laughed. "Women..."

"Hey, we like to make sure we don't miss anything. So, how's the new place?"

He told her about the apartment while they waited. She was happy it had three bedrooms and a separate bathroom just for Ava. He didn't tell her it cost a small fortune to get. She would worry too much and he knew they'd be ok soon. They just might be eating cereal and ramen for a week or so. She asked him about the club and he gushed about how excited he was. Opening night was this Friday. They were interrupted by a thud coming down the stairs.

"Tim?!" Ava ran down and hugged him. She looked around. "Where's Uncle Rohan?"

"He's doing adult stuff.... yuck right? But we're going for pizza! You ready?"

"Can we get pineapple on it?"

"Ugh, that's disgusting.... half with, half without, deal?"

She laughed. "Deal!" She turned and hugged her grandmother. "I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you too, love." She kissed her on the top of the head, "I'm only a phone call away. Go enjoy your pizza."

Ava was quiet for most of the ride. Taylor Swift was playing on the radio because Tim let her pick the station. When 'Shake It Off' came on he started singing along making her laugh.

"There's that smile. How you doing, kid?"

She let out a long sigh. "Life sucks sometimes."

He nodded. "Sure does. It's good sometimes too though."

"Yeah." She played with a string on her shirt.

Tim sighed. "Yeah."

==========

Whitney was headed to 'The Casa', she had put an application in online for a part-time front desk position at the hotel and they had reached out almost immediately. They had only been open for two months so they were needing people fast. She agreed to come in and interview as long as she could have a few hours to get a shower and fix her hair. The lady on the phone, Marsha agreed and hung up.

When she arrived she found a parking spot and speed-walked inside. She followed the signs to the hotel entrance and asked a girl at the desk for Marsha.

"Whitney? So good to meet you!" She opened her office door. "Let's get started."

She sat down and popped a Tylenol into her mouth, drowning it with a Red Bull.

Whitney raised an eyebrow. "Rough day?"

Marsha laughed. "Oh yeah." She took another long drink. "I'm going to be honest with you. You're the only one of my interviews today that actually showed up." She pulled a pile of papers out. "It's only part-time but since it's nights you'll make three dollars more on the hour. If you want it, it's yours."

"Nightshift? I didn't know that part."

"Well, it's 2 PM to 2 AM. So not a real night shift."

Whitney chewed on her lip. She usually stayed up late anyway so that wasn't too bad. Marsha interrupted her thoughts.

"If it's the pay we can talk to HR. You have a bachelor's degree so I understand the starting pay isn't amazing."

"You know what? I'll take it." She surprised herself when the words came out.

"Great! Fantastic! Let me get you some papers to sign and then I'll show you around."

==============

Rohan had just finished all the paperwork that was needed for the club. Jasper seemed alright. A bit uptight but not a big deal. They only needed him for Fridays and Saturdays so he sent a text to Mason.

𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚎𝚌𝚞𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚢 𝚓𝚘𝚋 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚘𝚙𝚎𝚗?

He waved goodbye to Jasper and walked out the front door. His phone rang.

"Hey what's up?"

"Can you come in now? They want to interview you." Mason sounded busy.

"I'm supposed to meet Tim and Ava. She's moving in today."

"They really need you, man. I talked them into giving you one of the best positions. It won't take long at all."

Rohan blew out a breath. "Ok, but I only have an hour to spare."

"Right. One hour. See you soon." He hung up.

It was already four. Jasper had taken forever. Tim was probably already home with Ava anyway. He sent a text telling him he'd be home as soon as he could and he headed towards the Casino.

=========

"Your uncle is running late. Any ideas what we should do in the meantime?" Tim had no clue how to entertain a  
twelve-year-old all day. He had managed up until now but he was running out of ideas.

Ava shrugged her shoulders. "Do you play Uno?" She pulled out a deck of Uno cards from her bag. She hadn't unpacked yet but Tim wasn't going to push her.

"Me, your mom and your uncle used to play all the time." He smiled remembering the many nights at the Preece's house laughing at making Rohan draw twelve cards at once. "We slaughtered your uncle every time."

She smiled. "Mom used to play with me all the time, before..."

Tim broke the lingering silence they had created. "We can play something else. Maybe watch some TV?"

"Can I go check out my room?"

"Sure! You have your own bathroom too."

"Really?! That's so cool!"

He grabbed her bags. "Want me to help?"

"No thanks. I can do it." She took the bags from him and waddled to her room. 

It was bigger than her room at her grandmother's. It had a bay window that made her smile. She could write there while she watched people below her, making up stories about their lives. Writing had become an escape for her and she loved it. She could be anyone she wanted when she wrote, not just some kid who lost her mother.

She unzipped one of the bags and took out her favorite picture. It was her, Tim, her mom and her uncle at Christmas a few years ago. Everyone was happy and sometimes when she felt sad, she'd stare at it and transport herself back to that day. Her mom was laughing at something Tim had said and her uncle was tickling her making her giggle uncontrollably. She sat the picture on her bedside table. 

"Hey, Tim?!"

"Yeah? You alright?"

"Let's play some Uno!"

===========

The guy over security was a genuine guy named Roger, who offered Rohan the job immediately. He explained it was the post at the hotel. He had a podium to sit at and he would only respond to issues in the hotel unless there was an emergency somewhere else that required everyone. He accepted and they shook hands. 

There was a mountain of paperwork to be completed. He was sitting at a desk that was way too small for him when Mason walked in.

"Congrats!"

"Thanks, I really need it now that I have Ava."

Mason put a hand on his shoulder. "How is she? Handling everything ok?"

"She's struggling. She won't talk about it. She's been writing a lot which the therapist said was a good thing."

"What about you? Have you had time to process everything?"

Rohan shook his head. "I don't know. It's tough."

"Take time for yourself. I know you have Ava now but you still have friends. Tim's there and you know I'm just a text away."

"I appreciate that."

"Of course." Mason looked at his paperwork. "So they did give you the hotel? Yes!!" 

"Seems easy enough."

"It's the best. Like, so easy, and the girls at the front desk?" He imitated a chef's kiss. Rohan rolled his eyes.

"Definitely don't need a relationship right now."

"Who said anything about a relationship? I'm talking about some good quality fun. Ladies love a man in uniform."

"Yeah, that'll go over well, 'Hey, could you wait here while I make sure my twelve-year-old niece who lives with me is asleep? Thanks! Oh and could you be completely quiet so we don't wake her?'"

Mason laughed. "That's why you go to their place. Anyway, they just hired this new girl. Sexy. Reminds me of a sexy, cute librarian."

"Sexy and cute? That's weird."

"When you see her, you'll get it." He winked.

Roger came in. "All done? Mason talking your ear off I see?" He laughed.

"Just finished." He handed him the papers.

"Ok, I was hoping I could give you a small tour? You'll see more when your actually training of course."

Rohan looked at his watch. It was 5:30. 𝘋𝘢𝘮𝘯 𝘪𝘵!

"I'd love to but my niece just moved in with me today and I haven't..." He looked at his new boss, he needed this job so he should make a good impression. "A tour would be great."

"Wonderful! It won't take long. Come on!" He led him out the door.

Apparently "not long" meant over an hour. He was exhausted and irritated. He needed to get home. While Roger was showing him the break area and his locker, two women walked in. Rohan couldn't believe it. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨.

"Wait a minute, you work here?"

Whitney scowled at him. "What do you think?'

𝘚𝘩𝘪𝘵.


	2. Who says life is fair, where is that written?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rohan goes on a date...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beta Reader: riversandroads01 💙
> 
> Chapter Title is from Princess Bride.

When Rohan finally got home it was after seven and he was exhausted. 

"Uncle Rohan!!" Ava hugged him

"There he is! Everything go alright?" Tim was shuffling Uno cards.

"Hey." He ruffled Ava's hair. "Everything went fine, I guess. Any leftover pizza?"

"Only pieces with pineapple." Tim made a disgusted face.

"That's fine."

Ava stuck her tongue out at Tim. "See? It's good! We're playing Uno. Come and play!"

He smiled and sat down. "Deal me in but no stacking. It's not an official rule. Confirmed on Twitter!"

Tim laughed. "Ok fine. You're still going to lose though."

As Tim counted out their cards, Rohan asked Ava how she liked her room. She told him she loved the huge window and having her own bathroom.

"I'm glad you like it. Tim wasn't too boring?" He picked up his cards.

"Nope. It's been fun." She smiled.

As they started to play, Rohan told Tim about his day. When he got to the fact that Whitney worked at the Casino's Hotel he bust out laughing.

"You work with the hot neighbor?! Nice! Her roommate is gorgeous too."

"She's a bi-" he looked at Ava. "A bit of a stick in the mud."

"Were you going to say she's a bitch?"

"Language, Ava, please."

She rolled her eyes. "I'm twelve."

"Well, don't say it in front of grandma. She'll murder me."

She looked at her uncle. "Can I go write?" The game had ended with Rohan holding half the deck.

"Sure. You don't have to ask. You live here too." He hugged her.

As soon as her door shut Rohan looked at Tim. "Thanks for today." 

"No problem."

They heard a scream from next door and girls "wooing." Then music started blaring through the walls.

Rohan was pissed off. "You can't play your music but they can?! That's bullshit! I'm going over there."

He looked at Tim who was fist-pumping the air. "Don't bother them! This beat is lit."

"Right." He walked over to 4D and knocked. A blonde girl opened the door and smiled at him.

"Oh, hello!"

One of the girls behind her yelled. "Stripper's here!"

He heard Whitney. "Who the hell paid for a stripper?! We're just having a girl's night!" She laid her eyes on him and scoffed. "He's not a stripper. Just an asshole."

Jen giggled. "Is 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 Mr. Sexy?!"

Whitney's face turned bright red.

"Ohhh, the security guard?!." A girl with pink streaks in her hair was examining him. "I approve of the nickname."

Rohan held his hands up. "Ladies, ladies. I just came over here to let you know that other people live in this building so if you could keep it down, I'd appreciate it. Isn't that right, Whitney?" He smirked at her.

She pushed him into the hallway with her and slammed the door.

"𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 is your problem?!"

"Oh I see, someone doesn't like when the shoe is on the other foot." He laughed.

"This is completely different!" She put her hands on her hips. "It's the evening. Not the crack of dawn!"

"You're fucking annoying. Do you know that?"

"Well, you're a smartass!"

He laughed. "Yeah, that you refer to as 'Mr. Sexy." 

She groaned. "I wish you never moved here!"

"Sweetheart, the feeling is mutual!" 

She went back into her apartment slamming the door again. All the girls were staring at her. She grabbed a bottle of wine. "Let's get this party started!"

===========

"So... how'd it go... Mr. Sexy?" Tim had heard everything and was trying not to laugh.

"Shut up." He sat on the couch.

"Relax man. You got two jobs today. The club opens on Friday. Bills will be paid, Ava has a roof over her head and food in the kitchen. It's all good."

Rohan sighed. "You're right. I'm just tired."

He got up to check on Ava. She was asleep on her bed still holding her notebook. He took her writing materials and put them on her dresser then covered her up. She looked so much like her mom. He kissed her on the forehead and turned off the light.

============

"Whitney! How dare you yell at that beautiful man!!" Sammi was drinking from the wine bottle. "If you won't jump his bones, I will!" She laughed.

"He's nice, a bit of a smartass but I like that." Talia winked.

"He's all yours. Knock yourselves out." 

"I think he's dreamy." Erikah was similar to Jen in that she caught feelings way too fast. "Could you introduce us, Whitney?"

"Look. If you want to talk to him then you know where he lives. I'm not playing matchmaker." She was annoyed because he had ruined her fun night of carefree drinking.

Sammi shrugged. "Ok." She adjusted her bra and fixed her hair.

"Wait. What are doing? I wasn't being serious."

"Trying to keep him to yourself?"

"No, but-"

"Good. I'm asking him out." Sammi had gotten bold in the last few years, she used to be shy but since her last boyfriend had dumped her she was more fun. She lived in the moment.

She walked to his apartment and knocked. The other girls crowded behind their door listening. "She doesn't even know his name!"

Tim answered the door. "Hey, what's up?"

"Oh, is Mr. Sexy here?" Whitney facepalmed herself when she heard that.

Tim burst out laughing. "You mean Rohan? Let me get him."

There was silence and then they heard him. "Oh hey. Do I know you?"

"I was at the party next door."

"Oh yeah, right. Thanks for turning the music down."

"Of course. But we never discussed our date."

"What date?"

Sammi laughed. "𝘖𝘶𝘳 date. Saturday? At eight?"

"Oh. I have to work."

There was a pause.

"Is she making out with him?? We need to see!" Erikah was annoyed.

"Shhh. Shut up!"

"I think she's coming back!"

Sammi came back inside the apartment as the others scrambled away from the door as if nothing had happened.

Whitney smiled at her. "So, how'd it go?"

"Great. We're going out Sunday."

===========

"Hey Mom, are you still ok to watch Ava tonight? If not it's ok."

"Rohan, it's fine. You are allowed to go out. Just because you have custody of her doesn't mean you stay home all the time."

"It just feels weird. Now I have to include that in conversation. Not the best thing to open with."

"I know but if a girl doesn't like you for that then she's bad news anyway. Don't you agree?"

Rohan laughed. "Yes ma'am." He adored his mother. After their father passed she never wavered. She took a second job and still managed to cook a meal five nights out of the week. He never appreciated that as a kid, he was so stupid, always out partying and getting into trouble. He owed her so much.

"What you're doing is an amazing thing, dear. The right person will realize that."

He knew she was right. He was nervous and excited about the date. He hadn't been on a date in a while. He made amazing tips his first two nights at 'The Villa' which was great because otherwise, the date would be ramen noodles and off-brand soda. Not a bad date for him but he could tell Sammi expected more.

"Thanks, Mom, we'll be over in a couple of hours. See you then."

===========

Whitney was enjoying her Sunday night. Alone. Glass of wine. Trash television. Comfy socks. Heaven. Her phone alerted she had a text. It was Sammi.

𝙳𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊𝚠𝚏𝚞𝚕. 𝙷𝚎 𝚑𝚞𝚐𝚐𝚎𝚍 𝚖𝚎 𝚐𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚗𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝!!!!!

Whitney called her.

"Ok, so what happened?" She sipped her wine and paused whatever Kim Kardashian was doing. 

"Well, he drives a 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘬 for one. That's not a dealbreaker but I wore a short skirt so he had to boost me up, not complaining but still. Then we get to the restaurant and he didn't make reservations so we had to wait." She paused and Whitney heard her opening her door.

"Wait? Are you just now getting home? He didn't drop you off?!"

"Ugh, I'll get to that. Anyway, while we waited he just kept making small talk about old movies that I know nothing about and he asked if I liked board games... like seriously?" Whitney smiled at that. She thought that was kind of cute.

"So, finally we sit down and things start to get better.... until he starts getting texts like every thirty minutes, and the worst part was he responded to them!"

"Are you serious?! What did you do?!"

Sammi laughed. "I went to the bathroom to make him wait."

Whitney laughed too. "Oh my God! So then what?"

"Well, I came back to the table and he immediately got up and said he was sorry but he had to go. Said it was a family emergency. I asked what happened and he froze up. He wouldn't say, probably because it was a damn lie!"

"What the hell?! I knew he was an ass!"

"Yeah. He paid the bill, gave me money for a taxi and turned to leave but before he got to the door he stopped and came back to say goodbye and he gave me this awkward hug and said 'thanks again.' No number or anything!"

"So let me get this straight? He took you out and the whole time he's texting someone else? Do you think it was another girl?"

"Probably. Guys like him have a girl for every day of the week."

"I'm sorry hun."

Sammi sighed. "Yeah, thanks. Well, have a good night. I'm going to heat up the food I never got to eat."

"Ok, Night."

==========

"Where is she? Is she ok?!" 

"She's fine, man. Calm down. Your mom's in there with her." Tim left the club as soon as he got the text from Rohan's mom. Ava had fallen down the stairs and broken her wrist.

"Mr. Preece?" A nurse came out of the room to their right.

"Here! That's me!" Rohan was so frazzled he actually rose his hand which caused a few people in the waiting area to giggle.

"Oh, we need you to fill out some paperwork. Do you have insurance?"

"Uhh, no not yet." He took the clipboard crammed with papers. "Can I see her?"

"Of course! She's in room five."

When Rohan walked in Ava was eating a candy bar and watching something on TV.

He knocked on the door. "Hey, I heard someone in here was doing her own stunts?" 

Ava frowned."I don't even know what happened. I was reading and walking to the bathroom and I just fell."

Rohan smiled at her. "Let's not read and walk, ok? That's why bookmarks exist. Or you can fold the page."

She looked shocked. "Bend a page? Uncle Rohan, please! That's disrespectful!"

"Ok, I'm sorry. We'll get you all the bookmarks tomorrow, deal?"

"Deal." She gave him a quick nod and went back to watching the TV. 

He sat down next to his mom to get started on the paperwork. 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘱𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬? She touched his arm. "I'm sorry. I didn't want to call you but they wouldn't treat her without your consent. I thought they'd let me handle everything." She frowned.

He felt sad for her. She wanted to be Ava's guardian but Rochelle said it wasn't fair to her. "Mom, it's fine. The date was a disaster anyway."

A doctor came in and shook his hand. "Are you her Dad?"

"Her uncle actually. I'm her legal guardian."

"Ok great!" The doctor told Rohan that Ava had broken her wrist and would need a cast for six weeks. He said as soon as the paperwork was filled out they could leave.

"Do you want me to take her back to my house?" 

"No mom. You should go ahead home. I'll just take her home. Tell Tim he can go back to the club too."

He hugged her goodbye and after thirty minutes everything was done. Tim met them in the parking lot.

"Thought you went back to the club?"

Tim helped Ava into the truck."They don't need me tonight. It's fine. Family comes first." He had been in love with Rochelle since they first met. He had never gotten brave enough to tell her and when she got cancer, he never left her side, helping to get her to treatments and anything else she needed and now he was still helping out.

"And Jasper is ok with that?" Rohan raised an eyebrow.

"He knows." 

"That's good." 

The drive home was silent. Ava had fallen asleep between them. 

"So, how was the date?"

Rohan sighed. "Doubt she'll be banging down our door for another."

"What happened?"

"Well, she hated my truck. So strike one." He loved his truck. It was a 1995 Dodge Ram. It had been his Dad's and he passed it on to him. It was full of memories and he'd never get rid of it.

Tim laughed. "Not the truck! What a horrible person."

"There's more, jackass. We had to wait to be seated which is, in her words, 'completely unacceptable' I tried to change the subject and talk about things we might have in common. I asked her what her favorite movie was and she said it was a tie between 'Glitter' and 'The Cat in the Hat' with Mike Myers." He rolled his eyes.

Tim burst out laughing but put a hand over his mouth to not wake up Ava. He whispered. "You're kidding me." Rohan shook his head. "Strike two for sure."

"Dude. I laughed because I thought she was kidding. She. Was. Not. Then we sat down to eat and she complained about everything! Her glass looked foggy, her food wasn't how she ordered it, the bread was stale. Then I started to get the texts from you and mom, which really pissed her off so she went to the bathroom for forty minutes! She came back and I told her I had to go. I apologized but she rolled her eyes. I gave her a hug which I know was weird but I didn't want to look like a total asshole. But all that was definitely strike three."

Tim shrugged. "Honestly, she probably thinks you ditched her but oh well. It was your first date in a long time. It was a practice run."

"I'll just leave the dating to you from now on."

==========

Whitney heard them come home, they were whispering. She was on her fourth glass of wine and feeling pretty confident. Before she could stop herself, she was knocking on the door that belonged to 4C.

The door opened. "Yeah?" He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose when he saw her. "What do you want? I 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 don't have time for this."

"What the hell, Rohan?! You can't take my friend on a date and leave her for a booty call!"

He looked behind him. "Keep your voice down."

Whitney was trying to make sense of what was happening but the wine had clouded the part of her brain that used common sense. "Oh, my 𝘎𝘰𝘥!" She shoved him. "Do you have a woman in there!?"

Rohan couldn't believe her. In the short time he had known her she was so quick to assume the worst in people, especially him.

"A woman? No. I don't have a 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯 in here with me but if I did. it wouldn't be any of your business."

She crossed her arms. "Sammi is my 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥. I realize you probably don't understand what that means but what you did was wrong!"

"I had a family emer-" he shook his head. "You know what? I don't have to explain myself to you."

Tim came around the corner. "Ava's in bed. She's waiting on you..." he stopped talking when he saw Whitney.

She looked between the two of them. Then back to Rohan. "You're disgusting! Let me guess...You two share girls?!" She looked at Tim. "I thought better of you!" She stormed down the hallway.

"Whitney, wait!" Rohan grabbed her arm. "What is your problem with me?! I know you're not my biggest fan but do you really think we'd do something like that?!"

She looked up at him and she couldn't help it, she blushed. 𝘋𝘢𝘮𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘰 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨! "Then who is Ava?!" 

He sighed. "Ava is my niece."

"Right. So you went on a date and all of a sudden you have a niece?" She rolled her eyes. "Why are guys like you so dumb? Just say you didn't like the date!"

"I had a niece before the date and you're right, the date was horrible! Your friend is not the best company!" He let go of her.

"She's a sweet girl and now she's upset!"

"Why are we arguing about this?!"

"I DON'T KNOW!!" She was made because she was attracted to him but he was like all the other guys she usually ended up with. Liars. Cheaters. Selfish men who only wanted one thing and if they didn't get it they tossed you aside. She hated that Sammi was treated like that. Especially after her ex. She realized they were still standing there in the hallway looking like a showdown in a western. "It doesn't even matter. I've said what I needed to."

She stomped back into her apartment.

"What is going on between you two?"

Rohan glared at Tim. "Nothing!"

"Right. It's obvious you two have the hots for each other. I say go for it."

"I can't stand her! She's so negative."

Tim put his hands up in defeat. "Ok, fine but you should really try to be civil to each other. Just to make life easier. I'm going to bed. Ava wants to talk to you."

He took something to relieve the pounding headache he had and went into Ava's room. She was reading her book, 'The Hobbit.'

"How are you feeling?"

"Better. I'm sorry." She closed her book. "Are you mad at me?"

He shook his head. "Of course not. Why would you think that?"

"I heard you yelling."

"Oh, that wasn't about you. Just our neighbor. She's annoying." He let out a small laugh.

"Oh."

There was an awkward silence.

"Tim said you wanted to talk to me? What's up?"

"Well, my birthday is in two weeks."

Rohan smiled. "You know what you want? We can have a party with your friends if you want to."

"I don't have any friends."

"Oh. I'm sure you do."

"I don't. People think I'm weird. They whisper when I walk past them in the halls."

"They just don't know what to say." He remembered after his Dad died, kids did the same to him.

She changed the subject. "I've been thinking and I'd really like a cat." She glanced at him.

"A cat? Like a real one?"

She giggled. "Yes. A real cat. Please, Uncle Rohan? I'll take care of everything."

He was a dog person to his core and pets weren't allowed in the apartment. 𝘔𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺'𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯? He'd have to call and talk to the landlord. She had seemed like a nice lady when he signed the lease. He hoped she'd understand.

"I'll see what I can do ok? Now get some sleep."


	3. Because, you're my friend. Jerk.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rohan asks for a favor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Title is from Flashdance

Almost a month had passed and Rohan still couldn't get ahold of the landlord. It kept saying the number had been disconnected.

"Tim, are you sure there's no other number on the lease?"

"I can look again." He sighed, they had looked at the lease a dozen of times in the last month with no luck. He told Rohan to just ask Whitney but that clearly wasn't an option. He scanned over it. "Wait. Did you check the announcement board?"

Rohan was tucking in his Security shirt. "Announcement board? Where's that?"

"The lease says it's in the lobby. I guess we've just been overlooking it?"

"For a month? I'll look when I go down there." He checked the time. "I have to go. Thanks for watching Ava tonight."

Tim shrugged. "Yeah yeah, no worries. Enjoy your night, Mr. Sexy." He chuckled.

"Man, please stop. That's embarrassing."  
As he shut the door he smiled. Whitney was leaving at the same time which wiped the smile off his face.

She froze when she saw him. "Hey."

He walked past her and heard her sigh. He had nothing to say to her. As far as he was concerned, she needed to apologize to him. He hoped she did it soon because he really hated arguing, especially when it involved screaming matches in the hallway. They were up to the double digits in the number of arguments they'd had which was ridiculous. He saw the board in the lobby and he knew why they'd never noticed it before. It was covered with a sheet. The lobby was being painted when they moved in and no one bothered to remove it. He lifted the sheet.

There were tons of announcements. Some guy who fixed broken phone screens, a girl who had a poetry reading, a guy named Elijah needing a roommate. There was a post-it note that said 'Landlord's New Number' he opened his phone and saved it in his contacts. He was halfway to his truck when he heard someone shout.

"Damn it! You piece of shit!" It was Whitney. She was kicking her car tire.

He told himself to keep going, it was karma. She didn't deserve his help and he would have kept going too but she started to cry.

𝘋𝘢𝘮𝘯 𝘪𝘵. He yelled across the parking lot. "Won't start?!" 

She looked over at him and wiped her eyes. "Obviously." She laughed angrily. "I can't be late. I'm never late."

He walked to her car and popped the hood. "How old is your car battery?"

She shrugged. "I'm not sure. It's the same one that it came with."

He smirked at her. "When did you get this car?"

She thought about it. "Eight years ago?"

He laughed. "Eight years?! Your battery is definitely dead. I can give you a jump but I don't think it'll do anything."

She was standing there biting her lip and thinking about what to do. She felt nauseous. She hated when things didn't go the way they were supposed to.

Rohan sighed. "Come on." He motioned for her to follow him.

"Oh, no. I'll just call an Uber or something."

He laughed again. "We're going to the same place. It's ok."

She didn't move.

"Unless you want to be late to work?" He rolled his eyes. "The horror."

She considered what he said. "Ok. Fine." She climbed into the truck.

The ride to the casino was awkward. Rohan didn't have anything to say to her and Whitney was embarrassed he had to help her.

"I'm sorry." 

Rohan wasn't sure if he imagined it. "Excuse me?"

She sighed. "I said... I'm sorry. I know we didn't start off on the right foot and that's my fault. I can sometimes be... stubborn." She twirled a piece of her hair. "I like things my way. I'm a bit OCD."

He knew this. He studied it in college. She was a mild case but he was starting to see more of it the longer he knew her. He confirmed his suspensions last Tuesday when she had to step around a stain in the hallway. She was up scrubbing it out of the fibers for two hours that night.

He pretended to be shocked. "You?! Stubborn? No way!?" they both laughed. "Thank you though, I appreciate the apology."

"You're welcome." 

"Although, the argument we had last week about how I ate my peanut butter sandwich 𝘸𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨 was extremely entertaining." He smiled.

She giggled. They had argued about it for twenty minutes. In the breakroom at work. "Sorry... when I'm anxious it gets worse. I guess the hotel causes some anxiety. So many people talking at once."

He nodded.

"Hey, I saw you looking at the announcement board earlier. Looking for another roommate?" She raised an eyebrow at him. "I think you have plenty." She had finally seen Ava. She was real.

"No. I just need to talk to the landlord. Her number is disconnected."

"Oh yeah. They're in Rome. They have a summer home there. Must be lovely, huh?" 

"Yeah, sounds nice. So will they answer the new number? If I was on vacation I wouldn't." He was annoyed. He gave Ava an I.O.U. one cat on her birthday along with twenty bookmarks and a brand new journal.

Whitney laughed. "They won't. But I will."

Rohan looked at her. "What?"

"Ok. This is weird. Jen's parents own the building. Jen and I handle things for them. I kind of 'forgot' to tell you." She blushed. "So, hi?"

"𝘠𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 the landlady?" Of course it would be her.

She glared at him. "You don't think we can handle it? That's so pigheaded!" She crossed her arms.

"Whoa! Calm down, I never said anything like that! That's so unfair!"

"Unfair? What are you? Five?"

"Could you just hear me out? Damn!"

She rolled her eyes. "Fine."

He explained that all Ava really wanted was a cat.

"We don't allow pets."

"You can't make an exception? I'll pay extra on our rent. She's had a really tough year."

She heard something in his voice that made her feel bad for him. "I can call Jen's parents and see what they think about it. It's their call for something like that. They'll answer me."

He felt better. "Ok, thank you. I really appreciate it." He pulled into a parking spot.

==========

It was Friday and Whitney was enjoying her night off. Jen was called into work so it was just her, she didn't mind, she was used to doing things on her own. Before she met Jen in college, she was a bit of a loner. She was just about to start a movie when someone knocked on her door. She opened it to find Rohan.

"Hey." He looked anxious. "Are you busy?"

"Not really..."

"I know this is out of the blue but you're the only person I know that's responsible and not busy." He rubbed his face. She was his last option. "I was wondering if you could watch Ava for me. My mom usually does but she's not able to do Fridays anymore."

"I don't know..."

"Please? I'm desperate here. Let's make a deal, ok? You watch her for me and I'll buy a new battery for your car and install it."

Whitney thought about it. She had rode to work with him the past week and she kind of liked having someone to talk to before, during and after work. Plus he kept the weirdos at the Hotel away from her. Some didn't know how to take no for an answer.

"It sounds like this would be a permanent addition to my Friday nights."

He studied her face. She was a tough person to read. He couldn't tell if she was annoyed or angry. Maybe amused? 

"Yeah, at least until I can find someone else." 

"You need to sweeten the deal."

He raised an eyebrow and looked her up and down. "What do you want?"

She shoved him laughing. "Not that! Perv! I want you to keep giving me rides to work."

He was surprised at that. "Ok. A new battery and rides to work. I can do that. Deal?"

She let him stand there for a few minutes. She knew he was not a fan of silence. It made him uncomfortable. She tilted her head as if she was thinking about changing her mind. "Ok. I accept." she held her hand out.

He hesitantly shook it. "Really? I mean, thank you." He picked up a bag that she hadn't noticed and handed it to her. "Here's her things. Bedtime is at 9 PM but no later than 9:30. She will tell you she likes scary movies but they scare the crap out of her so don't do it."

Whitney looked around. "Where is she?" 

"Oh, she got to a chapter in her book that she 'just had to finish' I'll go get her."

As he went to go get Ava, Whitney ordered a pizza and put up her bottle of wine, replacing it with a pitcher of sweet tea she had made earlier. She had no clue what kids liked these days but she had the game Battleship in her closet so she got that down too.

"Whitney? Did you run away?" He knocked on her open door.

"Oh, no, sorry! I was getting this." She showed them the box.

Rohan grinned. "Battleship? You own that?"

She blushed. "Yeah? Is that lame?"

"No. I think it's nice. We love board games don't we, kid?" He nudged Ava.

She looked between her uncle and Whitney. "Are you the bitch?"

He let out a breath. "What did I say about using that word?"

"Not to say it in front of grandma?" 

Whitney laughed. "I think there's a lot we need to discuss, Ava. Do you like sweet tea and pizza?"

She nodded. 

"Great. It should be here soon."

"Shit, I'm sorry! You didn't have to order anything. I'll pay you back." Rohan pulled out his wallet but Whitney stopped him.

"It's fine. I haven't eaten yet. Have a good night at work." She waved him off.

He hugged Ava goodbye and did an awkward peace sign salute to Whitney. 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘦?

Ava made a face. "Boys are weird."

Whitney smiled. "You have no idea."

The two girls stood there awkwardly. Whitney realized she was the adult so she spoke first.

"So... what do you do for fun?"

"I like to read and write."

"Really? Me too." She smiled, "Who's your favorite author?"

"I don't really have a favorite... I just love to read everything, but I could read Shakespeare every day."

Whitney was shocked by that. "Really? Let me guess, Romeo and Juliet?:

Ava made a face. "I actually really love Hamlet."

"Hamlet? Wow. How old are you again?"

She laughed. "Thirteen now."

"Oh, right. You recently had a birthday. Get anything good?" She poured two glasses of tea.

"My grandma got me some clothes, Tim got me a subscription to Amazon Music and Uncle Rohan got me a journal, some bookmarks and he's supposed to get me a cat but I don't know when." She shrugged.

"What about your mom?"

Ava froze. "What about her?"

"Did she get you anything?"

She just shook her head. Whitney was confused. What kind of mother didn't get something for her daughter on her birthday. Rohan shouldn't allow that. She knew he was extremely involved in his niece's life. There was a knock at the door.

"Pizza's here!"

==========

"Ready to go?"

Whitney had been carpooling with Rohan since their deal was made three weeks ago. She smiled at him. "Yeah, just give me a second." She went to the back.

He leaned against the reception desk to wait for her. She came out looking frantic. "What's wrong?" He knew that look.

She started to flip through papers. "I'm missing a chunk of very important paperwork!"

"Hey calm down. Let me help you look. Sometimes another set of eyes can make a difference."

He had no idea what he was looking for but it seemed to make her feel better that he was helping so he kept flipping through piles of papers.

"Yes! Here it is! Thank you!" She hugged him. 

He cleared his throat. "Uhm. You're welcome but I didn't do anything."

She stepped away from him. "Right. Well, I appreciate you not thinking I was crazy."

He laughed. "Oh, I definitely think you're crazy. But I'm getting used to it."

She rolled her eyes. "Ha Ha." She put the paperwork in the safe. "Ok, we can go."

"Rohan! Wait!" He felt someone grab his arm and he instantly knew who it was by the feel of long fingernails digging into his skin.

"Cherry. Have a good night?" She had been asking him out every night since he started.

"Ready for that drink?" She licked her lips.

"Sorry, I'm taking Whitney home. Raincheck?"

She narrowed her eyes. "Again? You're so sweet. Helping others less fortunate." She squeezed his arm.

Whitney laughed at that. She didn't understand girls like Cherry. Nothing was real. Even her hair color was fake. No one's hair was that red.

"Whitney. You should put a little more time into your appearance. Guests talk." She winked at her and pressed her fake breasts together.

Rohan removed her hand from his arm. "Right. well, we're leaving and honestly, I think real is better than fake anyway." He led Whitney out to the parking garage.

"Why did you do that?!" Whitney was annoyed.

"Do what?!" 

"Defend me? I can defend myself!"

"Ok? She was being a bitch to you. I defended you because I consider you my friend." 

There was a weird silence between them. He'd never called her his friend before.

"We're... friends?"

He frowned at her. "Yes? You watch Ava for me and I give you rides. That's pretty friendly, don't you think?"

She smiled. "Yeah. I guess we are. Thank you then. I appreciate it."

"Sure. Thank you for not trying to kill me in the beginning." They both laughed at that.

His phone rang.

"Hey, Tim."

"Hey, are you on the way home?"

"Yeah. About ten minutes away, why?"

"Ava is having a bad night."

He gripped the phone. "What do you mean? What happened?"

"Uhh, she's riding the red wave."

"What? What does that mean?"

Tim whispered into the phone. "She started her period. I'm freaking out, man..."

"Oh... oh God... I don't know..." Rohan looked at Whitney. "Let me call you back."

"Please don't leave me to handle this." Tim was actually begging.

"It'll be fine. I'll be home soon." He hung up. "Hey Whitney, I need you to do a huge favor for me." He pulled into a Walgreens parking lot.

"What's that?"

He rubbed a hand through his hair. "Ava started her... period." He whispered it.

"Ok... oh. Oh!" She giggled. "You want me to go get her some pads?"

"Is that what you girls use?"

"Yes. It's what we use." She deadpanned. He looked terrified.

She ran in and got everything they needed. "Ok, let's go."

When they got back to the apartment he thanked her and went to take the bag. "Uhh, no. I'm not leaving her alone with you buffoons to help her. This is probably freaking her out."

He let her into their apartment. Tim came around the corner. "Oh thank God! She's freaking out. I'm freaking out" he saw Whitney. "Oh. Hey."

"Where is she?"

"In her bathroom." He pointed towards a door.

Whitney knocked on the door. "Hey, Ava. Can I come in?"

She opened the door. "Just you."

"Of course." She sat down on the edge of the tub. "So, rough night, huh?"

Ava looked embarrassed. "Yeah. I don't have anything."

"That's ok. I do." She pulled everything out of the bag and explained everything to her, she even answered any questions she had.

"Thanks. I thought Tim was going to pass out when I told him." She giggled.

"I'm shocked he didn't."

She yawned. "I'm tired."

After telling Ava goodnight and helping her find a secret spot for her things. She walked out to the living room.

"Is she ok?"

"She's fine. Just a little embarrassed and tired."

Rohan walked Whitney to her door.

"Well, this is me." She turned to face him and smiled.

"Ah, so it is. 4D." He put his hands in his pockets. 

She turned around to unlock her door but he grabbed her arm. "Thank you for being there for her tonight."

"Of course." She hesitated. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure." He rubbed his hands together. "First real friendship question. Better make it good."

She was nervous to ask him but she had to know. He said they were friends so she hoped she wasn't crossing a line.

"Where's Ava's mother?"

Rohan closed his eyes. He felt a wall go up. It was not something he wanted to talk about. "It's none of your business."

"Why? If she had any sense she'd realize how hard it must be for her! She didn't even get her a birthday present!"

He grit his teeth. "You should just shut your mouth. You have no idea what you're talking about!"

"I would if you would tell me!"

"I don't owe you an explanation, ok?!" He shook his head. "This is why I can't be nice to you! You're constantly in my business! You are just a girl that I take to work. That's it!"

That hurt her feelings. "I thought you said we were friends? I'm just trying to help. I know how she feels..."

"I could never be friends with such a bitch!" As soon as he said it he felt like an asshole. She had tears in her eyes. "Whitney. Wait. I'm sorry."

Whitney unlocked her door and stepped inside. She wouldn't look at him. "It's ok." She blinked back tears. "Oh, by the way. I got ahold of Jen's parents. They said a cat is fine." She shut the door.


	4. It's called a sense of humor...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Whitney gets an unexpected phone call.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love Rohan but Tim is quickly becoming a favorite.
> 
> I'm struggling with movie line titles so that theme might be thrown out the window. 😅
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

"Damn it!" Rohan slammed his fist into the apartment door. "Whitney?" He paused. "I know you're still standing at the door. I'm sorry."

Whitney yelled through the gap. "Go away!" She stayed there until she heard him leave and go into his own apartment.

"What happened?" Jen had heard most of it.

"Just Rohan being his normal bitch self." She walked to the kitchen and opened a pack of chips.

"I thought you two were getting along. I'm sorry, hun."

"For what?" She was aggressively shoving Doritos into her mouth.

Jen just shrugged. She knew better than to get in an argument with her. She never won. "So you told them the cat was ok?"

"Yeah. Just because her uncle is a dick doesn't mean Ava should be punished for it."

"I agree." Jen smiled. "Well. I'm going to bed. Long day." She yawned and went into her room.

Whitney's phone buzzed in her pocket. She didn't even want to check it but she did just in case it was someone in the building. She was shocked when she saw who it was. She answered.

"Levi?"

"Hey, Beautiful. Miss me?"

She smiled. "Maybe. Are you still overseas?"

"Nope. Stateside. Thought I'd stop in for a while."

"Oh yeah? What's awhile?"

"Six months as of right now."

She had broken up with Levi a year ago after he had qualified for the Olympics and his life got flipped upside down. 

"Maybe I'll see you during that time?"

She heard a smile in his voice. "Maybe. I missed you. You still in that townhouse?'

She laughed. "God no. I live with Jen now. At her parent's apartment building."

"Ah. The Island Breeze Apartments?"

"Yep."

There was a knock at the door. She rolled her eyes. 𝘎𝘰 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺.

"Hold on, Babe. Someone's at the door."

She opened the door ready to yell at Rohan for not leaving her alone only it wasn't him. 

It was Levi.

She grinned and put her arms around his neck. "Welcome back" She kissed him and pulled him into the apartment.

==========

"Mom, do you still need Fridays off?" 

"Yes, sweetheart. I'm still volunteering at the hospital. Why? Did something happen?"

"No. I'll figure it out. It's fine." Rohan didn't know if Whitney would still watch Ava after their fight.

"Ok, I have to go! Love you!"

"Yeah, love you too." He hung up and stretched. He slept like shit because he felt awful. 𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘐 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘴𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦? Whitney was just curious and he went off on her and called her a bitch. She almost cried because of him.

"Morning!" Ava was eating scrambled eggs that he hoped she made and not Tim.

"Hey, why are you in such a good mood?" It was nice to see her happy.

"It's Friday! I'm going over to Whitney's right?"

His mouth went dry. 𝘚𝘩𝘪𝘵. "Maybe. I'll have to see if she's free."

She frowned. "Oh."

He put on a smile. "But first, I think I owe someone a cat." 

Her face lit up and she hugged him. "Really!? Thank you!"

Tim poured some coffee. He looked at Rohan confused. "She said yes? Even after everything that happened last night?"

"Yeah."

"Huh... Let me finish this coffee and we can go." 

As they were leaving to go to the shelter, Ava ran to Whitney's apartment and knocked. Jen opened the door.

"Hi, Ava! You look happy today."

"Hey, Jen! Is Whitney here? We're going to get my cat and I wanted to tell her."

"Oh, well, actually, she's a little busy." Jen blushed and looked at Rohan.

"Ava, you can't just knock on their door whenever you want. They have lives." He smiled at her. "Sorry, Jen."

"It's fine! We're friends." Ava pushed her way past Jen.

She stopped in the doorway of Whitney's room. "Who are you?"

Rohan heard a guy laugh. "Well hello there. I'm Levi. What's your name?"

"Ava. I live next door. Where's Whitney?"

Jen whispered, "boyfriend" to them.

Rohan cleared his throat. "Hey, Ava? We need to go. You can talk to her later."

The guy stepped out of the room in a pair of grey sweatpants. His hair was wet.

"Hey, I'm Levi." He stuck his hand out. "Whitney's boyfriend. You must be the guy that's been giving her rides to work. I appreciate it."

Rohan shook his hand. "Yeah. No problem."

The two guys stood there staring at each other. Whitney had never mentioned a boyfriend, yet here he was, half-naked in her apartment. Tim broke the awkward silence.

"Hey man, I'm Tim."

Levi looked between them. "You guys live together?"

"Yep. This one can't stay away." Tim laughed.

"Ava. Let's go."

==========

Whitney had just finished her shower. "Hey, where's Levi?"

Jen was putting a roast in the crockpot. She looked annoyed. Whitney opened the fridge and got a bottle of water out.

"What's up with you?"

She slammed the lid down and put her hands on her hips, which for Jen, was very aggressive. "What is 𝘸𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨 with you?!"

"What do you-"

"Levi?! Really? Have you forgotten how horrible he was to you?"

"It's been a year. People change."

"People like Levi, do. not. change."

Whitney crossed her arms. "I missed him."

"Sure. Is this because you and Rohan got into an argument last night?"

"That has nothing to do with this, besides, Rohan and I fight all the time. Levi called 𝘮𝘦." She played with the lid on her water bottle, counting the ridges.

Jen raised an eyebrow. "It's already happening. You haven't counted things like that in months."

"The hotel has my anxiety up. Not Levi."

"You know who helps with your anxiety?" Whitney sunk in her chair. "Yeah. Rohan. He tried to apologize last night and you wouldn't listen. You could use more friends, Whitney. Especially ones who don't put up with your little outbursts. I'm not going to stand here and watch another season of the Whitney and Levi show."

"Then don't watch."

"What about Ava? She's gotten attached to you."

"I'll still watch her. Levi doesn't change everything."

"Well, you need to realize it might be weird for her, having him around on your Friday nights now, plus you need to tell Rohan you're sorry for poking around in his business. You don't need to know everything."

Whitney rolled her eyes and pulled her phone out to text him. "Yes, mom."

"I'd wait, they went to get her a cat." She started to add carrots to the roast. "Oh, and Levi went to see 𝘩𝘦𝘳."

"He did?" She felt like an idiot.

"Yep. But 'people change." She made air quotes with her fingers. "I love you, but you need to let him go before it's too late."

=========

The shelter was not how Rohan imagined. It was loud and smelled like Clorox mixed with two hundred wet dogs. Tim was using his shirt to cover up the smell. As if it helped.

"How can I help you?" A girl who was probably around sixteen was chewing gum and ignoring the phones.

"We'd like to see your cats?" 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦.

"Ok awesome! Follow me." 

She led them to a separate room that only had cats and kittens. It smelled much nicer in this room. The girl gave Tim a weird look and Rohan nudged him. "You're so embarrassing. Put your shirt down."

"It smells like a damn circus in here!"

"Not in here." He pulled his shirt down.

"Uhhh, excuse me." Tim waved a hand in front of the girl. "Do we get a discount for putting up with this smell?"

Rohan was embarrassed. "Dude. Shut up. You've done enough today!"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I'm pretty sure that Whitney's boyfriend thinks that you and I are romantic. So, thanks for that..."

"Really? You're not really my type."

Rohan just shook his head. "Ava. Do you see one you like?"

She was petting a little grey kitten who was purring and rubbing up against her arm. "Are these all you have?"

The girl looked up from her phone. "Actually, there's a litter we just got in. Let me see if they're ready to be adopted." She ran out the door.

"I hope she hurries. I can't be in here much longer." Tim was petting a black and white cat.

"Are you wanting a cat or a kitten?"

"I'll know when I know."

Rohan nodded. He didn't know picking out a cat required such a deep connection. 

The girl came back into the room. "Ok so, the litter is still in quarantine for a few days but I forgot about this guy." She wrestled a fat orange kitten from the crate she was carrying. "He's a chubby little guy and doesn't really get along with the others so we've been keeping him up front."

Ava was in love instantly. She grabbed the kitten and it purred while nestling itself under her chin. "I love him! This is the one!"

Tim leaned over to Rohan. "You better hope they give you that smell discount because if they charge by the pound, we're in trouble."

===========

Whitney was pissed. Levi came back to her and immediately left to go see another girl. The same girl he always went to. 𝘈𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘳𝘢. Just thinking the name was upsetting. Her phone buzzed that she had a text. It was from Levi.

𝙱𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚔𝚏𝚊𝚜𝚝?

That's all it said. She text back.

𝚂𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚘𝚞𝚜𝚕𝚢? 𝚆𝚑𝚢 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚐𝚘 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝙰𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚐𝚛𝚊!

Her phone rang but she rejected it. She had nothing more to say. Jen smiled at her. "I'm proud of you."

"Yeah. Well. I need to go write. Clear my mind. Talk later?"

Jen just nodded as she sipped her coffee.

==========

Tim was standing in the cat aisle holding the many accessories that a cat apparently just had to have. Bowls, toys, food, litter, litter box...

"Yo Ava, I think we have enough. This thing doesn't need a bed. It has your bed."

She rolled her eyes. "He's not a 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨. He's a baby and his name is Ham."

"Ham?! Well, that's fitting. He is a little porker." 

"His full name is Sir Hamlet Horatio Preece. Ham for short." She nuzzled the cat's nose to hers.

Rohan laughed. "Wow. You gave him our last name? The little guy has to have his own bed now, Tim. He's family." 

"Oh! He also needs a collar with a bell!"

Tim grabbed a blue collar. "This one is nice. It even has a little bow tie. That's actually really stylish."

Rohan raised an eyebrow. "You want one too?"

"Don't be dumb. I'm already stylish."

"Uncle Rohan, can you text Whitney and ask if I can bring Ham over tonight?"

He sighed. "I can ask but she has a boyfriend, Ava. She might have plans tonight."

She laughed. "A boyfriend? Since when?"

Tim put a hand on her shoulder. "Since last night I'm assuming."

Rohan glared at Tim and sent her a text.

𝙰𝚟𝚊 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚎𝚎𝚝 𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚗𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚊𝚍𝚍𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚎 𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚔. 𝚂𝚎𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚒𝚗 30 𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚞𝚝𝚎𝚜?

When Whitney read the text she smiled. 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘺𝘱𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥. She typed a reply.

𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝙸 𝚕𝚒𝚟𝚎 :)

She felt much better. She had written another chapter for her book, organized her closet and made her bed with all the pillows in their proper place. Levi had tossed them on the floor last night and that drove her insane.

The front door opened. "Babe? Can we talk?"

Whitney turned around to face him. "I guess. Done having your fun?"

"Don't be like that. I went over there to tell her I was back because of you. She was blowing my phone up all night. I had to tell her in person. Allegra means nothing to me."

She winced at the sound of her name on his lips. "How did she know you were back?"

"Social Media."

"Oh. Right." Whitney hated the Twitters and Instagramming. Too much drama. She had accounts but never really got on them.

Levi lifted her chin. "I was so stupid before. This time it's all about you." He kissed her slowly and walked her back towards the bed. She put a hand on his chest to stop him.

"Not right now. I just made the bed."

He rolled his eyes. "Right. I forgot. Everything has to be in order."

"Don't be like that." She frowned.

"Why don't we go out tonight? Have some fun."

"I can't tonight. I watch Rohan's niece on Friday nights."

"The guy that lives next door? I met him this morning. He seems nice. A little quiet."

She snorted. "Rohan? Quiet? That's a laugh."

"Guess I'll just have to get to know him. If he's your friend then he's mine too." He kissed her forehead.

She was happy he wasn't jealous. He used to be ready to fight any guy that even looked at her which was ironic since he had been so unfaithful to her. She guessed he really had changed.

"Hey, do you think you could hang out with some of your friends tonight? I don't want Ava to feel weird with a random guy being here. Plus she got a cat today and I know how you feel about that." She giggled. He was scared of cats. He called it being allergic to them.

"She's bringing it here?! Yeah, I can probably call Miles. We need to catch up."

"Ugh. You still talk to him? After what he did to Sammi?"

Levi sighed. "People make mistakes Whitney. I've changed. Why can't he?"

"Whatever." She checked her phone. "You better leave. The cat has entered the building."

=========

Levi was almost out the main door when Ava walked in with Sir Hamlet. She smiled at him. "Is Whitney home yet?"

He backed away and stood next to the fake potted plant that was next to the coat rack. "Yeah. She's up there." He pointed upstairs but he was watching the cat's every move.

Rohan walked through the door and looked at him. "Are you ok? You look like you might pass out."

Levi glared at him. "I'm fine. Just giving you all enough room to get through."

"Ok... thanks." He mouthed 'weird' to his niece and she giggled.

"Hey! Can I get some help?!" Tim was trying to bring everything in at once.

"Tim! I told you we'd need to make multiple trips!" Rohan shook his head and looked at Levi. "Can't take him anywhere, I swear."

"Why make multiple trips when I can get it done in one?" He put the cat bed between his legs, draped three bags of toys and other cat accessories on each arm and he carried the litter box with the litter and food inside. He shuffled through the door and looked at the stairs. "I can't make it. Go on without me." He dramatically fell to the floor.

Rohan and Ava laughed. "Tim, you're an idiot but that's why we love you."

"You three are a weird combo." They looked up to see Levi staring at them.

Tim squinted at him "It's called a sense of humor, you should get one. They're nice." There was an awkward silence. "It's from a movie. You watch movies?" 

"I don't really have the time..." Levi gave them a little wave and ran out the door as fast as he could. 

"He's a bit odd, isn't he? Didn't even offer to help."

"You probably freaked him out with your lack of muscles." Rohan helped him up and took half the load. "You should do those handstands I taught you. They're great for upper body strength."

"Sure thing. As soon as I can feel my body again."

He rolled his eyes. "Everything we bought is either filled with stuffing or plastic." He handed Ava a bag. "Can you hold this? Tim's being a baby." He winked at her.

When they got upstairs, Ava knocked on Whitney's door. After a few minutes she opened up and both girls started squealing about how cute the kitten was.

"Ava, he's precious! What's his name?" She took the kitten in her arms and he started to purr.

"Sir Hamlet Horatio Preece. But Ham for short."

"That is such a good name. Great job." They did a fist pump.

𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘧𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘶𝘮𝘱?

Whitney smiled at Rohan and Tim. "You guys want something to eat before work? Jen made a roast and we won't eat it all."

Tim punched the air, smiling. "Hell yeah! Is Jen here?" 

"Oh, no. She had to run out for a few hours. She should be back before you leave, though."

"Cool." He looked at Ava. "You hungry?" 

They ran past Whitney into the apartment making her laugh. 

Rohan groaned. "It's like I have two kids sometimes. Sorry." He ran a hand through his hair. "Can we talk?"

"Sure." She stepped out into the hall with him, shutting the door. "I guess I should say I'm sorry."

"What? No." He laughed. "I should be the one to apologize. I was an ass and you are 𝘯𝘰𝘵 a bitch. You're a sweetheart." He stopped himself. "I mean... well, I was completely out of line. So, 𝘐'𝘮 sorry."

"Wow. Thank you, but I shouldn't demand answers for everything. That's not fair to-"

"Whitney... what do you see him?"

"Who? Levi?"

He nodded. He hated that he even asked but he had to know. He thought they had a connection but he was always misreading things. "He doesn't seem your type."

Whitney was at a crossroads. She had feelings for Levi, they had a past but she wanted to keep Rohan around too. Jen was right. She needed friends that didn't back down from her bullshit. "I think things could work with him this time."

"This time? What happened before?"

"Levi has had his struggles like everyone. I haven't seen him in a year and I missed him. I hope it's not weird now that we're friends?"

There it was. She clarified that they were friends. He had to get over this crush he had on her. 

"Of course not." He shrugged. "Why would it be weird?"

She blushed. "Well, I kind of thought..." She shook her head. She was being crazy. "Nevermind, that doesn't even matter now because I have Levi."

"Right. I'm happy for you." If you could die from embarrassment then this would be it for Rohan but unfortunately, we just have to simmer in it. He put his hands in his pockets. "So... I should tell you about Ava's mom..." 

He explained how the cancer had come on quickly and before they knew it, she was gone.

Whitney put a hand on his arm. "That must have been really hard for you."

He looked up at her. "What?"

"To lose your sister. That must have hurt."

He didn't know what to say. No one had ever seen it from his side. It was always, about Ava and he agreed it should be but it was hard on him too and she was the first person to say it out loud. He felt tears sting his eyes.

"It's ok." She hugged him around the waist and they just stood in the hallway like that with nothing but Ham's purrs between them.

"Am I interrupting something?" Jen had come home.

They pulled apart and Rohan cleared his throat and playfully punched Whitney's shoulder. "Good talk, buddy." He walked past her to join Tim and Ava.

Whitney glanced at Jen. "What?"

"Nothing." She smiled. "Cute cat."

"His name is Ham." Ava had come into the hallway. "We're waiting for you two."

Everyone gathered around the table to eat. There was a roast with vegetables, dinner rolls and they even made a chocolate cake for dessert.

"This is amazing, Jen." Tim was shoveling food into his mouth as he talked. Jen just smiled at him.

"I'm glad you like it." 

He grabbed Rohan's arm to check the time. "Ugh. I have to head out. Gotta be at the club early when your name is on the lease." He grabbed two rolls and put them in his pockets. "For the road." He winked at Jen making her blush.

"Do you have to go too?" Whitney asked Rohan.

"No. Not till 6."

Her face lit up. "Good! We can all play Uno! I bought a new deck the other day for when Ava's here."

"Ok. Sure. Maybe I'll have some luck playing with new people." 

They played a few rounds and he actually won twice, which was an achievement in his mind. Ava won the rest.

"You have a card shark on your hands, Rohan." Whitney laughed while she sipped her drink.

"Yeah, she learned from the best."

"Who? Tim?"

"No, Rochelle. Her mom. She always wiped the floor with me." He smiled. He was really glad they could at least stay friends. Not many girls enjoyed playing Uno on a Friday night but she did. He loved that. He looked at his watch. "Well. I better go. Thanks for dinner and everything else." He hugged Ava goodbye.

"Oh, I'll walk you out." Whitney walked with him down to the lobby. She thought it was probably weird to him but with her anxiety on the rise, she had to count the stairs at least twice a day and she'd only been down once to get the mail.

Rohan smirked at her. "Still 84 stairs?"

She froze. "What?"

He tilted his head. "Sorry. I just thought you were counting them. I know it calms you down."

She looked away, embarrassed.

"Hey. I didn't mean to upset you. I studied psychology and I was really fascinated with obsessive-compulsive behaviors." He didn't want to upset her. "You're completely normal, with a touch of crazy." He smiled.

She burst out laughing. "You don't seem to mind."

He shrugged. "Crazy keeps it interesting. Levi's a lucky guy."

She watched him leave as she smiled to herself. She shook her head. She went back upstairs.

============

Rohan was tired. Working the hotel and the nights bartending were starting to get to him. He didn't want to leave Tim and Jasper without a bartender on Fridays and Saturdays but he wanted to spend more time with Ava and Whitney. 𝘞𝘩𝘪𝘵𝘯𝘦𝘺? 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘣𝘰𝘺𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥.

"Hey, you."

He looked up. It was Sammi. He forced a smile.

"Hey, how have you been?"

"Just keep thinking of you, if I'm honest." She tried to be sexy while drinking her cocktail. She was failing.

"Oh yeah? Sorry about last time. Family emergency."

"Oh yeah. Whitney told me. I think it's so sweet you take care of your niece."

"Thanks. Can I call you a cab?"

She started laughing uncontrollably. "No... I'm going home with you. Please, Rohan?" She was stupid drunk. Like one sip from busting her head open on the bar drunk. He motioned for the bouncer to take her outside and get her a ride.

After she was gone his mind went back to the blonde neighbor that wasn't his to think about. He had to stop this. Drown these stupid middle school feelings.

"One beer, please."

He looked over to see Cherry. 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘶𝘱 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵?

"Ready for that drink? I don't see any excuses tonight." She pretended to look behind the bar.

He made a decision. A stupid, dumb horrible decision.

"I'd like that."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading about my idiots. Love you! ❤


	5. What's your record for consecutive questions asked?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rohan tries the dating thing.... again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beta Reader: riversandroads01 💙 Seriously. Go check her out on here! She's an amazing writer! 💙
> 
> Title from Uncle Buck
> 
> Going forward I will (try) to update on Mondays.

"Tim!" Rohan yelled over the dance floor but no one could hear him. He pulled his phone out and sent a text.

𝙽𝚎𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚙. 𝚂𝙾𝚂

He saw Tim pull his phone out, read it and grab the mic. "Yo, Yo. Yo! This is your boy Timye, Big T or even Timmy Smalls! I answer to them... alls." He grinned. "I'll be back in a hur-ray so don't go and scur-ray! Until I'm back enjoy these sick beats!" He kissed two fingers and held them up in the air as he exited the stage.

Rohan crossed his arms. "That last bit didn't even rhyme."

"It doesn't have to rhyme. Just hype 'em up!" He splashed water on his face. "It's hot up there, what's up?"

"Follow me." They walked out the back door and stood by Rohan's truck. There was a redhead slumped over in the passenger seat.

"Why do you have a girl passed out in your truck, man? If she's dead, I'm leaving."

"She's not dead... I took my break early so we could have a drink and then she wanted a cigarette so I brought her out here and now she's passed out." He looked at Tim frantically. "Please help me."

"Ok. Do you know where she lives?"

He shook his head. "No."

Tim snapped his fingers. "Let's check her purse."

"What if it's not updated? We just send her to a random place?"

"Dude. The only other options I see here are either, A, take her to our place, or 2, leave her in the alley. I do not feel like hearing that 'thunk-thunk' from Law and Order. I can't handle prison."

Rohan opened the door. "We can check her purse." He grabbed it and found her wallet. He read the address out loud. "That's close, right?"

Tim's face was ghost white. "Is her name Cherry?" 

"Yeah. You know her?"

"Yeah. She's Jasper's girlfriend. Shit! What were you thinking!?"

"I didn't know who she was! She's been hitting on me since I started at the Casino."

"Ok let me think." He started to walk away, talking to himself. After a few minutes, he had an idea. "Ok, let's pull her out of the truck." He grabbed her arm.

Rohan got on the other side and pushed her. She slid out onto the pavement.

"Damn, I dropped her."

"Jesus, Tim." He ran around and picked her up by the underarms. "Grab her feet. Where are we taking her."

Tim grabbed her feet. "Backstage."

"We're taking her 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦?"

"Just trust me. You asked me to help so that's what I'm doing."

Somehow they got Cherry inside without anyone noticing and they laid her on a couch backstage. Tim grabbed a bottle of vodka and stuck it next to her. He bent over and caught his breath. "Don't make me do anything like that again. I'm exhausted." He looked at Rohan, who looked like shit. "You alright?"

"No. I'm exhausted. I'm thinking about dropping this bartending thing."

"Really?" He patted him on the back. "That's fine. You don't have to do it." He pulled his phone out to check the time. "You should go home. I'll tell Jasper you aren't feeling well."

"What about her?" He pointed to Cherry.

"She comes back here all the time and passes out. No one will think it's weird. Go hang out with Ava."

==========

"Ava. If your uncle finds out I let you stay up he'll be mad and let's face it, grumpy Uncle Rohan isn't very much fun."

"I'm thirteen. Not a baby. I won't tell him. Please??"

Whitney sighed. Ava was going to be a handful when she got older. She hoped Rohan was ready. "Ok, you win. Should we watch 'Girls Just Want To Have Fun'?"

"Yes! I love that one!"

She snuggled on the couch with Ava laying her head on her shoulder and Ham was curled up on the back of the couch. It was her favorite day of the week. A knock at the door interrupted the nice moment. 

"Coming!" She got up and opened the door. "Rohan? You're home early."

"Oh, yeah. Weird night. Might have committed a misdemeanor. I can take Ava home now."

She frowned. "Wait, what?" She put her hand up. "Know what? Don't tell me... Anyway, we were about to watch a movie. She couldn't sleep."

He smiled. "Yeah, I know how she can be. Don't worry." He heard the TV. "Is it ok if I join you two?"

Ava held up Ham. "Three!"

"Right. Is it ok if I join you 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦?"

Whitney smiled. "That would be great."

They sat on the couch together. Whitney snuggled up to Rohan's side and Ava laid across their laps. When the movie was over he nudged Whitney and whispered. "We need to go."

Whitney was half asleep. "Don't go. Stay here."

He carefully removed himself and got Ava's things. He took everything over to their apartment before grabbing Ham and tossing him in Ava's room. When he returned Whitney was up.

"Did I wake you? Just trying to get her out of here." 

"She can sleep on the couch. It's not a big deal."

"Are you sure? What about Levi?"

Whitney rolled her eyes. "What about him? I thought he had changed but he's already back to his old ways. I haven't heard from him all night." She had told him to go out but she expected a few texts throughout the night.

"Well, he's an idiot. A guy should always check on his girlfriend."

"Girlfriend? Levi and I aren't official. He just came back."

"Oh. Sorry. He said he was your boyfriend."

"He did?"

He smiled. "You know. Sometimes we're blind to things that are right in front of us. We should give people a chance, don't you think? Even if you didn't hit it off at first?" 

She felt her face flush. "Uh-huh..."

He closed the distance between them. "Whiney... I really need to ask you something and if I don't do it now I never will." 

Whitney blushed. "Ok."

"Could you give me Sammi's number?"

"What? S-s-Sammi? You want her number?"

Rohan thought that was a strange response. He had accepted his place as her friend, even if he had a stupid crush, he was a grown-up and could get over it. "Yeah. Do you know it? I thought you two were friends?"

Whitney didn't know why she felt sad. "Yeah but... I mean, yes. We are. I can text it to you." She pulled out her phone and sent her number to him.

His phone signaled that he received it. "Thanks."

"Of course. She's great." Whitney's phone rang. It was Levi. "I should answer this."

"Oh, yeah. I'm just going to grab Ava and we'll leave you alone."

She waved at him as he walked out the door. She then turned her attention to her phone. "Hello?" She could hear loud music in the background.

"Whitney!? Can you hear me!?" Someone laughed.

"Yes... Levi? Can you hear 𝘮𝘦?"

"Listen, I can't hear anything but just letting you know, Miles and I are heading to Vegas for the weekend! I'll call you later!"

"Vegas?! Wait, what about..." the call disconnected. 𝘎𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵.

===========

Jen was reading the paper and eating a cinnamon roll when Whitney woke up. 

"Any coffee?" 

"Good morning! Where's Levi?"

Whitney groaned. "Please don't start. You were right. He's still a prick. Happy?"

"No, I'm not. I hate seeing you upset. You deserve better."

"He was supposed to go with me today to get a new mattress."

Jen grinned over her coffee. "Oh, if only there was a nice man next door who could help... oh wait, there is."

"Rohan's going out with Sammi again."

She giggled. "I was talking about Tim. Funny you immediately went with Rohan." 

Whitney frowned. "I hate you." 

"You love me."

Someone knocked on the door. "Jesus, remember when it was peaceful around here?" Whitney opened the door and a tiny human breezed past her into the apartment.

"I'm mad!"

"Ava, what's wrong?"

"It's my uncle." She sat down at the kitchen table. "He's so dumb!"

Whitney smirked at that. "Well, we knew that. What did he do?"

"He's quitting the nightclub."

She wasn't expecting that answer. "Ok, and that's bad?"

Ava's lip trembled. "I won't be coming over here on Fridays anymore."

"You can come over anytime. Even if dumb Uncle Rohan is home." She hugged her.

"Dumb Uncle Rohan? You hear that Tim? I'm dumb." 

"At least you know now." Tim walked in and smiled at Jen. "Morning, beautiful. You ready?"

"Beautiful?" Whitney looked between them. "Where are you two going?"

"Tim's helping me take cinnamon rolls to the nursing home. Did you want to come?" 

"No. You know I don't like it there." She hugged herself.

"Ok, well. We should go." Jen grabbed a few trays and Tim grabbed the rest. "It was nice to see you, Rohan." She looked at Whitney. "Hey! Maybe he'll go with you!" She winked and shut the door.

Rohan grabbed an apple off the counter and tossed it between his hands. "Go where? You need help with something?"

"Oh, no... it's nothing..." she poured a cup of coffee.

"Whitney." He grabbed her shoulders and made eye contact with her. "You're my friend. Let me help."

Ava groaned. "What about me!? I'm still mad!"

Rohan laughed. "Still? Why?"

She rolled her eyes. "You're ruining my social life!" She dramatically fell forward on the table.

Whitney giggled at the fact that she was a thirteen-year-old's social life. "Ava, you can still come over. Your uncle doesn't rule this apartment."

"You mean it?"

"Of course."

That seemed to improve Ava's mood. She pulled her phone out and started to scroll through social media. Rohan sighed. "Thanks. I'm sorry. She thinks you're like her best friend."

"Well, she's 𝘮𝘺 best friend, so..."

He smirked at her. "Where am I on this friend chart?"

She pretended to think it over. "Not sure. Let's see how today goes."

He put his hand over his heart. "Ouch. That hurt." He grabbed Whitney's coffee and took a drink. "So where are we going?"

She sighed. "I need to go pick out a mattress. Levi was supposed to go with me but he had something he had to do." She kept it vague because she didn't want to look as pathetic as she felt.

"Oh, ok. Sounds fun."

"Fun? How?" She scrunched up her nose.

"You'll see. Get dressed."

===========

"Thank you for coming along, Tim." Jen was cutting up a cinnamon roll for one of the residents.

"No problem. Glad I could help." He had never been in a nursing home before. It was similar to the rehab center that Rochelle had been in for a month before they moved her back home. He wasn't a fan but he really liked Jen and she seemed so comfortable here.

"Well, not many people enjoy coming here, that's why I do it. Some hardly ever see their loved ones. Having visitors can change their entire day." She smiled at the lady they were sitting with. "Like Pamela, here. She loves visitors, don't you?" Pam smiled and Jen fed her another bite. 

"Do you usually come alone?"

"Sometimes. Whitney used to come but she doesn't like it here. Gives her anxiety."

"Well, I'm always available." He grinned at her and turned to an older gentleman sitting to his right. "What's your name, sir? Want some coffee?"

"Name's Lou and the coffee here is shit."

Tim laughed out loud. "Roger that, Lou. Next time I come here, I'll bring you some good coffee. Can't be having shit coffee, that's blasphemy."

Lou chuckled. "I like this one, Jenny."

Jen blushed and smiled. "Me too, Lou."

==========

"Come join us, Whitney!"

Ava and Rohan were jumping on every mattress they could find. Every. Single. One.

"Yeah, Whitney! Have a little fun!" Rohan stuck his hand out.

"Absolutely not! We'll get in trouble!"

He stopped jumping. "Trouble? Why? You need to know the bed has a proper bounce to it first." He hopped off the bed and checked his phone.

"Have somewhere you need to be?"

Rohan laughed. "And stop embarrassing you? No way!"

Ava laid flat on the bed trying to catch her breath. "This one is great. I think you should get it."

"You think? What's so great about it?" 

"It's so soft! Ham would love it."

Whitney smiled at her answer. Levi liked firm mattresses which was annoying. A bed was for comfort, cuddling and sinking in to watch a good movie or read a good book. Besides, Levi wasn't even here.

"Then it's the one I'm getting."

She found a salesperson and as he was writing up the receipt, Rohan interrupted.

"150?! For delivery? That's insane. She's not paying that."

"Sir, that's a reasonable price."

He raised an eyebrow at the guy. "Says who?"

The guy seemed intimidated, he looked at Whitney. "Ma'am, could you please ask your boyfriend to calm down? He's already messed up all our displays."

She blushed. "Oh... well, actually... I mean, he's..."

"Come here." Rohan motioned for the guy to lean in closer. "She's cute, huh?"

"Oh, yes sir, absolutely."

"Help me out. It's our anniversary and I wanted to buy this for her but she's fucking stubborn. I know you can find it in your heart to waive that fee and give her a discount, can't you? Besides, the quicker we pay, the less you have to see of me."

"Oh." The guy looked at his computer. "Wonderful news! I can waive that fee and this mattress actually went on sale today... looks like you get 100..." Rohan shook his head. "I mean, 200 off?"

Rohan grinned and slapped the desk. "Can you believe the luck?!"

After she paid and set up delivery, they headed home. Ava was talking nonstop about the latest book she was reading and Whitney would comment and ask questions when appropriate. When they pulled into the parking lot at the apartment, Rohan's phone rang. Ava ran inside the building while he answered it.

"Hey, I was just about to text you." He paused to listen. "3 o'clock, today? I don't know, I'd have to find someone to watch Ava."

Whitney waved at him and mouthed. "I can."

He glanced at her and spoke into the phone. "Hold on." He covered the phone with his hand. "Are you sure?"

Whitney nodded. "Of course."

Rohan went back to his phone call. "See you at 3." He hung up.

She tried to act like she didn't care. "Who was that?"

"Sammi."

"Oh. Fun. Will you be out all night?"

He laughed. "No. It's just a lunch date." He saw her face. She didn't believe him. "A late lunch date but I'm a gentleman." 

"I'm glad you're giving her another chance."

"Well, she deserves an explanation. I felt bad about last time."

Whitney just smiled at him. She was glad they were friends. "We should go see what Ava's up to."

============

Well, he tried.

Sammi was just not for him. Tim told him he was too nice, maybe he was right. Thinking back he never broke up with his 8th-grade girlfriend, he just kept telling her he was sorry until she moved away. 

"... were little?"

Rohan hadn't been listening. "I'm sorry, what did you say?"

"I asked what you wanted to be when you were little."

"Oh. I wanted to join the circus. I learned how to walk on my hands and juggle when I was 7. I always thought it would be cool to tightrope."

She wrinkled her nose at the thought. "Seriously? That is so embarrassing. You shouldn't admit that." She laughed.

"Right. What about you?"

"Well, I always wanted to be a weather reporter."

"Why?"

"Because you get to be on TV, wear cute clothes and change your name to something connected to the weather. I was going to change my name to Sammi Sunshine." She giggled. "Plus, the anchormen are hot."

"I don't think they really change their names..."

"Anyway. Enough small talk. Does your niece live with you all the time?"

"Yeah. I have custody of her."

"And your friend, Tom, lives with you too?"

"It's Tim and yeah, he moved in to help me, he's a great friend. Ava loves him."

"He's a DJ, right?"

Rohan was getting a headache. "What's your record for consecutive questions asked?"

She glared at him. "What the hell does that mean?!"

"It's a line from a movie... don't worry about it."

"Where's her Dad?"

He was getting pissed. "Your guess is as good as mine. He left when she was born."

"But you could find him and he could take her, right?"

He pinched the bridge of his nose. "Ok, we're done here."

"What? We haven't even gotten our food yet."

Rohan stood up. "Look. This isn't going to work. If I'm with someone they have to understand that Ava comes first. Every single time. Without question. I'm not throwing her at some blood relative she's never known because you think she's an inconvenience."

Sammi crossed her arms and shot him a dirty look. "I'm just trying to help. I'm still young. I'm not ready to be responsible for a kid."

"Don't worry, no one is asking you to." He walked away but came back. "And watch some better movies. Glitter? Seriously?"

==========

Whitney was trying to calm Rohan down. He had called her right after the date.

"She doesn't even get it. Ava needs me."

Whitney walked into the bedroom so Ava wouldn't hear her.

"You're amazing with her. Sammi just doesn't understand responsibility."

"Why are you even friends with her?"

"I'm not really. She's friends with Talia who is friends with Jen. I don't have a lot of close friends."

Rohan paused. "I'm your friend."

Whitney was glad they were on the phone so he couldn't see her smile at that. "I guess..."

He laughed. "I am. I can hear you smiling. Anyway, I'll be home soon."

She liked that he said it like that. "We'll be here."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm on tumblr reblogging chaos @ThoracicOrchid. Feel free to look me up. 🙃


	6. That does put a damper on our relationship.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Whitney makes a decision...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title is from Princess Bride ❤
> 
> I blame Laura Whitmore for this...

Rohan woke up to a blood-curdling scream. Still half asleep, he got out of bed as quickly as he could and followed the source of the noise. It was coming from Whitney and Jen's apartment. 

"What's wrong?! Is everything ok?!"

Tim showed up ten seconds later holding a baseball bat. "Who was murdered!?"

"Ham's gone!" Ava was sobbing. She had spent the night at the girl's place.

𝘚𝘩𝘪𝘵. "Hey, We'll find him, ok? I'm sure he's around here somewhere." Rohan was trying to calm her down.

Whitney had tears in her eyes. "I'm so sorry. He was asleep next to her last night."

"It's ok. Tim and I will check the other floors. He's still here, I'm sure."

"Levi will help." Whitney nudged him and gave a pointed look.

"Oh, uhh, sure." He wasn't happy, he had just gotten back from Vegas around three in the morning.

"Great, Levi, you can come with us." 

He followed Rohan and Tim out into the hallway. They were on their hands and knees, meowing and saying 'here kitty kitty' over and over. Levi rolled his eyes. He knew where the cat was, he had gotten up to pee and it cornered him in the bathroom so he scooted it into the linen closet. After arguing with Whitney for an hour about getting back so late, he decided to use finding the cat to get back on her good side.

"Hey, guys? I gotta use the bathroom real quick."

"Ok man. That's cool."

After Levi went back into the apartment, Tim looked at Rohan. "What is going here?"

"What do you mean? We're two grown-ass men, on our hands and knees, looking for a lost cat. We're heroes."

Tim laughed at that. "I'm talking about Captain Douchebag back there. If we're the heroes, he is definitely the villain... I don't think he likes us very much."

Before Rohan could respond, they heard Ava scream again. "Oh thank you! He's here! Levi found him."

"Levi found him? Right..."

===========

"Isn't Levi the coolest? He competed in the Olympics! The Olympics!!" 

Ever since Levi had "found" Ham, Ava talked about him nonstop. Rohan hated it. 

"Yes, Ava. I know." He was trying to get ready for work and was trying to zone out the Levi Lovefest. 

"Am I going to grandma's tonight?"

"Yeah, Tim's taking you before he goes in tonight. That alright?"

"Could I hang out with Levi?"

"No. Whitney won't be there. She has to work too."

Ava frowned. "Oh, ok." 

Rohan didn't trust Levi at all. He seemed like the type of guy who only cared about himself. He was not about to leave his niece with him.

"You'll have a good time with grandma. Now give me a hug, I have to go."

She hugged him and he waved goodbye. He took a deep breath and knocked on Whitney's door. Levi opened it.

"Hey, man." He nodded at Rohan and leaned back into the apartment, raising his voice. "He's here!" 

"I'm almost ready!"

Levi invited him in and they sat together on the couch. 

"So. Security?"

"Yeah. It's pretty simple. Just locking doors and calming people down."

"Right..."

They settled into the silence. Levi watched the TV and Rohan drummed his fingers against his leg. They had nothing in common, except Whitney. Levi's phone vibrated, he opened the text message and rolled his eyes. He cleared his throat.

"So you and Tim... how'd you two meet?"

"In middle school."

"Oh, so you've known each other for a long time."

"Yeah, he's the best. A little crazy sometimes but he means well."

Levi looked at him hesitantly. "You two look good together."

Rohan shook his head. "We're just friends."

"Oh, really? I'm sorry, I just assumed..."

"It's cool. Honest mistake." He hoped he'd just drop it.

He didn't. 

"So... you're not into guys?"

"Nope."

"I just thought since you hang out with Whitney so much..."

Rohan sighed. "Is that a problem?"

"Depends... Can I ask you something?"

"I guess..." He was getting agitated.

"Are you attracted to Whitney?"

He had no idea how to answer that. Of course he was, any man would be, she was beautiful. She had this smile that could light up the darkest night and he often found himself just staring at that cute little dimple that accompanied it. Everything about her was perfect. He loved the way she rolled her eyes and laughed at him when she was giving him a hard time. Some days she wore dresses with flats and she looked adorable yet other times she hardly wore makeup and a simple t-shirt with jeans were more her style. She was a natural beauty. To Rohan, she was the perfect girl. But he couldn't say that to Levi.

"No? I mean, I'm just her friend so I don't look at her like that."

"So I don't have to worry about you two?"

Before he could answer, Whitney came out of her bedroom smoothing down her top."Sorry! I hate this outfit I have to wear, ready?"

Rohan stood up. "Yep. Let's go."

She kissed Levi on the cheek and they left.

The ride to work was a normal one. Whitney talked about the latest chapter in her novel and how her new favorite thing was putting together jigsaw puzzles. Not animals or people but places. Gardens, sunsets, things like that. She had been trying new things to keep her attention, especially when her anxiety hit. Rohan had printed off a list for her and she was working her way through it.

"I was actually thinking we could go to the craft store this weekend and look for some starry night puzzles." She was smiling at the idea of it.

"That sounds great. Maybe you can take Levi?" 

She scrunched up her nose. "Why? He hates that kind of stuff."

"Well... He should be involved with the things you like, don't you think?"

That annoyed her. "If you don't want to go, just say it. I'll go by myself."

"That is not what I said. We can go Saturday."

She grinned. "Good."

===========

"Is that meatloaf?" Whitney was investigating Rohan's lunch.

"Yep. My mommy made it for me." He laughed as he took a bite.

"I love meatloaf, it's a classic. I usually add ketchup but I know some people think that's gross." She took a bite of her turkey and swiss sandwich.

"Oh yeah?" He pulled a small bottle of ketchup out of his cooler. "Me too."

She smiled at him. It was crazy to her how much they had in common. Rohan was such a good friend to her and she didn't want to ruin that but ever since his second date with Sammi, Whitney had been experiencing feelings she hadn't felt since she met Levi and that was bad.

𝘓𝘦𝘷𝘪. She wanted things to work out with him, but they had broken up during a very rocky patch in her life, the Olympics had just been a good excuse at the time. She would never admit it out loud, but she had felt relief when he left. He treated her better now but he didn't really understand her interests. He had stayed at her place every night since the Vegas trip and he would tell her he loved her as she fell asleep in his arms but she hadn't said it back yet. They had so much history, she felt she owed it to him and herself to try and get there.

She watched Rohan eating his lunch. He was the complete opposite of Levi. He always made time for her hobbies and he had Ava who she adored. He liked to joke around and just watch a movie or play a card game. Nothing felt forced with him. After his date the other night, he had come over with a pizza and they just sat together on the couch watching some show that she didn't even remember. He had put his arm around her and she cuddled into his side until Ava had fallen asleep. It felt normal. She couldn't imagine her life without him and that scared her. 

"You ok?" Rohan noticed she was staring off into the distance.

"Oh, yes. I'm fine."

"Here." He gave her half of his lunch. "It's too good not to share." 

She felt the words coming up before she could stop them. "Do you think we could work?"

He tilted his head to one side, "We 𝘢𝘳𝘦 at work."

"I mean as a couple. Am I someone you'd date?"

"You're with Levi."

She rolled her eyes. 𝘍𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦𝘯. "If I wasn't. Would you ask me out?"

This was new. He didn't want to freak her out by saying yes, but he didn't want to say no either.

He shrugged. "Maybe. I never really thought about it." She had a frown on her face. "Would you want me to?" 

She looked down at her sandwich. 𝘔𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦? She didn't like that. She had always been a little closed off when it came to dating which is probably why Levi was technically the only boyfriend she'd ever had. She went on dates but nothing lasted. She was a 'bitch' or 'weird' never anything else. She knew Rohan was waiting for her answer. She decided, for the first time in her adult life, to be vulnerable with her feelings.

"It scares me to say it, but yes, I would." She blushed. "I have a bit of a crush on you. I know Levi is back and I realize that might make things awkward for you, but I wanted you to know."

He was stunned. He didn't know what he expected but it wasn't that. It took a lot for her to say that, he could tell. 

"Wow. Well, thank you." He looked away from her, thinking of what to say. "I really appreciate that, Whitney."

"But?"

He sighed. "But you 𝘢𝘳𝘦 with Levi."

She groaned and put her head on the table. Rohan reached out and grabbed her hand.

She lifted her head to look at him. "That can change."

"Oh... well..." he was fucking it up, he was bad at these things. "Is that what you want?"

She glared at him and got up from the table. "You know what? Forget it!"

"Don't be like that! I don't want to ruin what we have!"

"Ruin what we have?!" She shoved him. "We don't 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 anything!" She left the breakroom before he could see her cry.

============

Two weeks later, Levi and Whitney were cuddled up together on the couch. He kissed her on her shoulder and checked the time on his phone.

"Can we talk?"

"Of course." She sat up to look at him.

"Do you remember when we were in college and I helped you with your mother?"

She hung her head. How could she forget? Her mother had a stroke at forty, leading to dementia, which caused Whitney to become her caretaker. Levi had not only helped her see that it was ok to do things for herself but he also helped cook and clean for them both. Now, her mother lived in a nursing home and when she went to visit, she would be called hateful things, Whitney knew her mother didn't mean them but they still hurt. During college, her anxiety had been so out of control, it ultimately caused a rift in their relationship.

"Yes, I remember and I can never pay you back for all the wonderful things you did."

He hesitated before speaking. "What if you could?"

"How?"

He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "I had a reason for coming back and it 𝘸𝘢𝘴 for you but..." he stopped talking, trying to think of the best way to tell her without her being completely pissed. 

She was getting impatient. 𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘥𝘰 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘶𝘺𝘴 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘰𝘵𝘴? She narrowed her eyes at him. "But, what?"

"I need to get engaged."

She let out a laugh. "Right. Ok." She glanced at him and saw he wasn't laughing or smiling. "Oh my God... you're serious?!"

Levi nodded. "My manager thinks an athlete who has a steady relationship would be better for my image. Not my 'playboy' status I have right now. My sponsors are threatening to dump me. Getting engaged fixes everything."

"And you thought I was the idiot still waiting for you?!" She felt the anger in her rising.

"No! Just hear me out. You are the only girl that I have enough history with for it to make sense." He waited for her to respond but she didn't so he continued. "It would only be for a small amount of time, then we call it off due to the long distance being too difficult... if you want."

"Long-distance!? So you won't even be here?"

He shook his head. "I'm here for 6 months to look the part, get engaged and then I'm gone. I'm asking for your help. I really need your help here."

"So everything you said before about wanting things to work... that was a lie?"

"No. I would love for things to work out between us, Whitney but we just don't have a lot of time right now."

"Levi... I don't know..."

"Is it that guy? The one that lives next door?"

She wouldn't look at him. "We aren't speaking right now."

"Well, he's not attracted to you anyway. He told me the other night when he picked you up. You're holding on to something that will never happen. You do that." He lifted her chin so she would look at him. "You're difficult to love, Sweetheart. You're twenty-eight. You're not getting any younger."

"He said that?"

Levi nodded. "Yeah. He said you two are just friends so he doesn't look at you that way."

"Oh." She felt sick to her stomach. That's why he acted so weird at work. He didn't think of her like that. He didn't want to say it and ruin their friendship. 𝘎𝘰𝘥, 𝘐'𝘮 𝘴𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘱𝘪𝘥. "Can I have some time to think about it?"

"Sure. My manager is flying in tomorrow and you can talk to her about everything."

"Sounds great. Can you excuse me?"

She went to her bedroom and pulled out a pack of cigarettes hidden in her closet. She only smoked when she was really stressed and this occasion called for it.

"Where are you going?" 

She opened the door but didn't look at him. "The roof."

She loved the roof. No one came up here to bother her and she was free to just let her mind wander. She lit a cigarette and as she exhaled the smoke, she felt calm. 

"Whitney, can we talk?"

She looked over to see Jen.

"Oh, hey! I was just..." she tried to hide the cigarette behind her back because she knew Jen hated when she smoked.

"Smoking? It's ok. I'm not mad, but I am worried about you."

Whitney let out a dry laugh. "So you heard?"

She nodded. "You're not going to do it, are you?"

"Why not? No one else seems to want anything to do with me."

Jen raised an eyebrow. "You mean Rohan?"

"I was completely upfront with him, Jen! He doesn't look at me like that. He isn't even attracted to me."

"Whitney, I don't believe that at all. He's your friend. He knows how you can be, sometimes you can be-"

"Hard to love?!" She was glaring at Jen.

"No. Would you let me finish? That's what I'm talking about though. You're quick to 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘶𝘮𝘦! Levi should not have said that to you. He's wrong. You're a beautiful soul."

Whitney rolled her eyes. Jen wouldn't say a mean thing about anyone, except Levi. "Sometimes you're too naive. Life is moving whether we go with it or not."

"So you think Levi is your only option? Is that what you're trying to tell yourself? I know you feel like you owe him for being a decent human being with your mother but don't forget he cheated on you for a year with Allegra because he couldn't 'deal with you.' That's messed up."

She stamped her cigarette into the pot of dirt that all the smokers in the building used and stood up. "I'm meeting with his manager tomorrow." She walked past Jen and went inside.

==============

Rohan hadn't talked to Whitney since their fight two weeks ago and he missed her. He hadn't expected her to open up about her feelings towards him so he acted like a dumbass and only responded with questions. He 𝘥𝘪𝘥 want to go on a date with her and today was the day. He walked into the living room.

"I'm doing it. I'm going to ask Whitney out."

Tim was drawing up his set for the night but stopped midway through.

"What? Really? That's great!" 

"You think? It's not weird? After our fight?"

"Why would it be? She said she wanted to be with you. Plus, we decided he's the villain. Get over there, Captain America!"

"I'm nervous as hell." 

Tim sighed and closed his laptop. He spun around in his chair. "Ok. Practice on me."

"Excuse me?"

"Ask me out as Whitney. Trial run. Go!"

Rohan just stood there. "I don't have anything planned. I just got flowers."

Tim raised an eyebrow. "You got me flowers! That's so cute!" He grinned.

"Stop that! It's weird."

"You're right. Whitney would be more like this," he cleared his throat. "Ugh," He rolled his eyes. "What do 𝘺𝘰𝘶 want?"

Rohan sighed, he might as well play along. "I brought you flowers. Orchids. You said they were your favorite."

"Wow, you remembered something? That's new... Thanks." Tim pretended to tuck a piece of hair behind his own ear. "So, you came over here 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 to give me flowers?"

"No. I actually really need to talk to you. I'm sorry. I was an idiot. You told me how you felt and I freaked out and said the wrong things. I'm really bad at this... I really want to take you out on a proper date tonight and I know you hate last minute, but I just can't waste any more time ignoring the way I feel for you."

Tim was impressed. Whitney would blush and absolutely say yes, but he had to give his best friend a hard time. It's what he did. "Oh... well. I wish you would have called. Can we go after Levi blows my back out?"

Rohan busted out laughing. "You're an asshole!"

"Sorry!" He laughed. "Seriously though? There's no way she'll turn you down."

The two guys stood in the living room in silence. Tim had never seen Rohan so nervous. 

"So, what are you waiting for?"

Ava came into the living room with Ham. She sat on the couch and put her feet up.

"Can we go see a movie or something? I'm bored."

𝘚𝘩𝘪𝘵. Rohan had forgotten to get someone to watch Ava. He sighed as he put the flowers in the kitchen where she wouldn't see them. 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘥𝘰 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘸. He smiled at Ava and pulled out his phone.

"Sure, what did you want to see?"

Tim motioned for Rohan to follow him into the kitchen. "Hey, Ava. Look for a movie while I talk to your uncle, ok?"

Once they were far enough away from the living room, Tim spoke, "What are you doing? I can watch her."

"No. Who will be there at the club?"

"I have a backup. I do have the power to have a night off." 

"It's ok. I can ask Whitney out tomorrow and mom can watch Ava."

Tim huffed. "Stop being stupid. She won't wait forever. Levi is still in her bed most nights."

Rohan sighed. That was his biggest obstacle. Levi. "What if she just really wants to be with him?"

"Jen says they're not serious at all. Don't mess this up."

"It would be different. I have Ava."

"So? Whitney loves Ava. She understands."

"What if Ava thinks it's weird?"

"I didn't know a thirteen-year-old was in charge of your love life?" Tim leaned back against the counter and crossed his arms.

"Well, what if..."

"Stop. We can do this all day but I really don't want to because I have a date with the gorgeous girl in the living room and you have a date with Whitney. Go." 

"Thanks, man! I owe you." Rohan grabbed the flowers.

"Where are you going?"

He turned around to see Ava looking at him with an amused expression on her face. "I'm going to see Whitney."

"With flowers?" She grinned at him. 

"Yeah."

"Finally! Boys are so weird." She laughed.

Tim laughed with her and they fist-bumped. "Have to agree."

Rohan laughed too and before he knew it he was standing in front of Whitney's door. He'd been here hundreds of times but not with the intention of asking her out. He took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

When it opened, he was greeted by Jen and he saw they had company. 𝘋𝘢𝘮𝘯. 𝘐 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳.

"Rohan! What a surprise." She saw the flowers and her face fell. She looked back into the apartment then back at him. "You should leave. Text her later."

He was confused. "Why? I really need to talk to her, Jen. It's important."

"Jen? Who is it?" Whitney came to the door and froze. "Rohan? Why are you here?" She saw the orchids. "You brought flowers?"

He nodded. "Yeah. For you. I wanted to apologize."

Jen left them alone at the door to talk. She looked like she was in physical pain.

"Are you ok?"

"I'm great." She snapped at him. "Why are you here?"

"We need to talk. I wanted to tell you that my answer is yes, I would love to go out with you. So, this is me, in all my awkward glory, asking you out."

A tear ran down her cheek. 𝘈𝘴𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘦. 𝘖𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘸. 

"Please don't cry. I rehearsed with Tim and it was way better than this but you look so beautiful and now I'm just rambling..." he laughed at himself. "I didn't know you had company. I can wait."

Her voice broke. "Why didn't you tell me that night? Why now?"

He realized something was wrong.

"Because I'm dumb. You know that." He smiled trying to make her laugh but he got nothing. Just more silent tears. "Whitney, what's wrong?"

She shook her head. "You have horrible timing, you idiot." She lifted up her left hand. "I'm engaged to Levi."


	7. My special gift is impossible relationships

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rohan has feelings, Whitney has feelings, we all have feelings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Goodness gracious, this chapter was difficult for me.
> 
> Title from Pretty Woman (we're slipping into the 90s today)
> 
> I'm still on tumblr @ThoracicOrchid 💚

𝘌𝘯𝘨𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘥? 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙖𝙜𝙚𝙙?!

Rohan just stood there, in her doorway, looking at the ring on her tiny finger. It mocked him, reminding him of how stupid he had been to wait. Why didn't he just tell her how he felt when she asked? She had made herself so vulnerable and he still kept his walls up. 

"Are you going to say something?" She brought him back to reality.

"What can I say?"

She didn't know how to answer that. What 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 he say? She stepped towards him but he backed away.

"Do you love him?"

She closed the door behind her. She didn't want to fight with him.

"A part of me always has but things are different now." 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶.

"You still said yes."

"It's complicated." She grabbed his hand. "Please don't be mad." A single tear rolled down her face.

Rohan sighed. "I'm not mad. I'm just upset and confused. You said you wanted this." He motioned between them. "You said you wanted 𝘮𝘦." He couldn't stop looking at her. How could someone so sad still look so gorgeous.

"I do... I mean, I did... I don't know what to do..."

He handed her the flowers. "Well, congratulations, I guess."

"Rohan, please." She was shaking. "We can still be friends, right?"

He wouldn't answer that, he couldn't.

==========

Jen asked everyone to leave and sat down on the couch to talk to Whitney.

"Oh, Jen. I fucked up..." 

"Just call Levi and tell him you changed your mind. He doesn't own you."

"I signed a fucking contract!" She grabbed a pillow and screamed into it.

"Oh, Whitney. What kind of contract?"

"A non-disclosure. I can't tell anyone that the engagement isn't real. You already know and I told them that, they were pissed but I told them to fuck off. I'm not doing this alone." She hugged Jen. "This is an absolute nightmare."

"It's ok. There has to be something we can do."

Whitney pulled herself together and blew her nose. "Maybe I could call Lucy? Levi's manager."

Jen smiled. "It's worth a shot. Maybe she'll understand."

Whitney dialed Lucy's number and listened to it ring once, then go directly to voice mail. 𝘋𝘢𝘮𝘯! She found Levi's name in her contacts and hit call.

"Hey Baby, how's your day?"

She rolled her eyes. "Don't 'baby' me, you ass! You fucking lied to me, Levi!"

"Lied about what?"

"Rohan! You said he didn't like me! He sure as hell seemed to like me when he showed up just now and asked me out!" She was pacing back and forth. "I want out of the agreement!"

"Out? You signed the papers, sweetheart. You can't just be done! Besides, I didn't lie! He did say that to me! You need to take your aggression out on him. Not me." He hung up.

She threw her phone and clenched her fists at her side, letting out a scream. "I'm engaged to a FUCKBOY!"

Jen fought off a laugh. "Well...."

Whitney marched to her bedroom and fell back into her bed. She wondered what Rohan was doing, how he felt. She needed to get some fresh air.

"Can we get out of here?"

Jen grabbed her keys. "Sure. There's something you need to do anyway."

=========

"Hold up. Whitney is engaged? To Levi?"

Rohan nodded. He didn't feel like repeating it. He barely got it out before going into his room with Tim right behind him.

"That's not canon."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Sorry. I just mean, in my head, well those two don't make sense. Are you sure..."

"Am I sure I saw a ring on her finger when she 𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘥 me she was engaged? Yeah, man. Pretty fucking positive."

Tim frowned. "I'm really sorry."

Rohan didn't say a word.

"What should we say to Ava? She was excited you were asking Whitney out. She's kind of obsessed with you two."

He sighed. "We have to tell her the truth."

Tim was worried. "Want to go to the movies with us? We can talk to her about it. Together."

"Yeah. That's a good idea." Rohan got up and ignored the heartache he was feeling. 𝘎𝘦𝘵 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘵. 𝘉𝘶𝘳𝘺 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘦. "Hey, Ava! You ready to go?"

Ava came out of her room with a weird expression on her face. She looked around the living room.

"Where's Whitney?"

"She's got other plans so I'm going to the movies with you and Tim."

"Oh. Ok." She picked Ham up and cuddled him. "You hear that, Ham? Don't be sad. Whitney will be part of our family soon."

Rohan felt a sharp pain shoot through his heart when she said that. He glanced at Tim who looked just as messed up as he felt.

He hesitated. "... What?"

"Well, I know you're my uncle but, you kind of act like my dad too, right?" He nodded. "And Tim's my crazy adopted uncle, so Ham and I thought it would be nice to have Whitney like a mom." She was grinning and looked happier than he had seen her in over a year. It ripped him apart.

Tim stepped up and spoke, sensing that Rohan was dying inside.

"Ava. Anyone can be family if you choose them to be. It wouldn't matter if Whitney was with Rohan or not. Ok?"

She laughed. "I know that! But she makes you happy. Right, Uncle Rohan?"

He swallowed back the emotion he was feeling. 𝘑𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘴. "Being her friend makes me just as happy."

She narrowed her eyes at him, trying to figure out what was going on. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

She crossed her arms and shifted her weight to one side, looking like a split image of her mother. "I'm old enough to know things!"

Rohan and Tim exchanged a look. Should they tell her? Tim shrugged.

"You're right, Ava..." he sighed. "Whitney is getting married to Levi."

Her face crumpled. "What? Why?"

Rohan was confused by her reaction. "I thought you liked Levi?"

"I did, but Ham doesn't! He hisses at him! Cats can tell if people are bad!" She ran to her room and locked the door.

"Damn it!"

Tim sighed. "You shouldn't have told her."

"You shrugged! I don't know what this." He exaggerated a shrug. "means!"

"It means 'I don't fucking know!' It's a universal sign."

Rohan rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Should we give her some space?" Normally he'd go to Whitney about something like this, but that was clearly not an option right now.

"Yeah, she'll be ok. Not like she has a choice."

"No shit."

=============

"Why are we here?" Whitney was sunk down in the passenger seat of Jen's car wishing she could disappear into the fabric.

"You're fake engaged to a man that you don't want to be with while the man you do like is once again, friend-zoned. You need your mom."

She stared at the building. Why did it look like a happy place? She could smell the Clorox from here. She knew Jen was right but she wasn't going to admit it to her.

"She doesn't even know who I am."

"She's been doing better. She laughed the other day when I was here."

Whitney groaned but she opened the door and got out. There was a group of nurses outside, smoking. They greeted her and gave her hugs. There was a time that she would have been here every weekend but she slowly stopped coming, losing a loved one who was still physically here with you and didn't know it, was a hell she wished on no one.

An older gentleman came up to Jen and hugged her. "No Tim today? I was wanting some good coffee."

She giggled. "Not today, Lou. I'm with my friend to visit her mother."

He eyed Whitney. "You're Pamela's little girl?"

She just nodded.

"She's been asking about you. She'll be happy to see you."

Jen said goodbye to him and they continued down the hallway. They passed tons of residents who were visiting with each other.

"Here we are. Room 322." The door was open but Jen knocked on it. "Mrs. Kingston? You have company!"

When Whitney walked in, her mother was looking out the window at the bird feeder the facility had set up for her. Birds were her happy place.

"Hey, Mama. What are you up to?" She lowered herself onto the bed beside her, taking hold of her hand. "I'm sorry I haven't been by to see you. You know it's difficult for me."

Her mom looked at her. "The birds love this weather."

She smiled. "Yeah, they really do.'

She sat there, holding her mother's hand and told her about working at the hotel, her book she was writing and even how she met Rohan, Tim and Ava.

"You'd love them. Ava loves to read and write and Ham, her little kitten, he is so mischievous. He fell in the toilet trying to jump on top of the sink." Her mom laughed at that.

She sat in the silence with her for a few more minutes. Just watching the birds fluttering around. 

"Mama... I need to tell you something... I'm engaged... but I did it for the wrong reasons. I thought... well, that doesn't matter now, but I don't know what to do. I'm kind of stuck in an impossible situation." She looked at her mother who has still staring outside. "I wish you still knew me. I wish you understood what I was saying. I miss you so much."

Her mother smiled and patted her arm. "If you don't love him then don't do it." She turned back to the window.

Whitney smiled. "Thanks, Mama. You're so right. I just wish it was that easy."

They spent the next few hours together. Jen sat in the corner humming and reading. Whitney painted her mother's nails and braided her hair. It was the first visit in a very long time that she hadn't been mean or violent. Maybe she 𝘸𝘢𝘴 getting better in that regard.

She looked at the time. "I have to go, Mama. I love you." She hugged her and so did Jen. 

When they were outside Whitney finally spoke. "Thank you. For bringing me here. I needed that."

Jen started the car. "I know. And you're welcome."

"I need to try to call Lucy again." She pulled her phone out and hit call, this time, Levi's manager picked up.

"Whitney! Been waiting on your call, babe! Levi says you're upset. What can we do?"

"I'm not upset."

"Oh, well that's a relief!"

"I'm fucking pissed! I want out!"

She could actually hear Lucy rolling her eyes. "Look. We were straight forward about everything. What's really going on?"

"There's this guy..."

"Oh ok. I get it. So, what's the problem?"

"What's the problem? He thinks I'm engaged!" 𝘎𝘰𝘥, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦, 𝘐 𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘳!

Lucy laughed. "You're allowed to see other people. No one cares what happens behind closed doors. You think Levi is 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘰𝘺𝘢𝘭?" She snorted. "Please."

"But the contract..."

"Oh, you can't tell him, but it's not like you're married. Enjoy the ride babe! Oh, I have to go! Kisses!" She hung up.

Jen waited for her to say something. 

"Well?"

"Well... apparently it's ok to be a whore!" Whitney couldn't believe this shit. She was not about to put Rohan in that situation. "You know what? It's fine. I didn't want to be with him anyway. He deserves better."

Jen slammed on the brakes and pulled to the side of the road. "Stop it!"

"Jen! What the hell?"

"Will you just stop it?! It's ok to want something and what do you mean 'he deserves better'? You are amazing and sweet and I wish you saw those qualities in yourself."

"Lucy said I still can't tell him but I can be with him. You and I both know he isn't going to do something like that and I wouldn't want him to." She hung her head. Why didn't she just wait to sign the contract and talk to him first? Being an adult who made stupid decisions really sucked.

"Well. You can't tell him, but I can."

Whitney whipped her head up and smiled. "You'd do that?"

"Of course. I didn't sign anything. I want you to be happy." 

"You're an angel Jen, I swear!" She hugged her. "Can we go back and tell him now?"

"Sure, but let's grab something to eat first. I haven't eaten yet."

===========

"She's been in there for hours. She needs to eat."

Rohan was worried about Ava. She had cried off and on for over an hour, he had knocked on her door when she stopped and received a muffled "go away." But since then, silence.

"Maybe I can try and talk to her?"

"Sure, you can try. At least give this to her." He handed Tim a plate of their dinner. Baked chicken with mashed potatoes and a side of corn on the cob. It was a favorite of hers.

He knocked on the door. "Hey, Ava? Ready to eat? We got a can of tuna for Ham." No response. "Ava, I know you're upset but you shouldn't bottle things up. It's good to talk."

Still nothing.

Tim huffed and put the plate down. He opened his desk and found the tiny key to her door. He unlocked the door.

Ava wasn't there.

"Ava?" He opened her bathroom. "Ava!" He opened her closet. "Rohan! She's not here!"

"What?!" He ran into the room looking frantically around like she was just being overlooked. He noticed her window open. "Damn it! She must have gone out the window!"

They grabbed the keys to Rohan's truck and ran out the door. Before he got to the stairs Tim stopped.

Rohan was freaking out. "Dude, what are you doing? Come on!"

"Wait. Let's think here. Where would she go? Where does she feel safe?"

They looked at each other and said it at the same time. "Whitney's."

Rohan knocked on the apartment door but no one answered. 𝘍𝘶𝘤𝘬! "I don't think they're home, Tim."

"Ok. Change of plans. Where else would she go?"

"The library?"

"Maybe."

"Mom's?"

"That's a long walk. Would she know the way on foot?"

Rohan was in panic mode. He felt like a horrible uncle. He couldn't remember any of her favorite places. As he was racking his brain trying to pull something from his memories, he heard footsteps.

"Ava?"

It was the girls, they were back but Ava was not with them. Jen smiled at them while Whitney refused to make eye contact.

"Hey, guys. How are you doing this evening?"

"Have you seen Ava?" Rohan didn't have time for greetings.

Whitney heard the panic in his voice. "What do you mean?"

"She's gone. She got upset and went out the window... We thought she'd come over here but I guess not."

Whitney wasn't thinking about her problems anymore. "What happened to upset her? That might help us figure out where she went."

Tim and Rohan looked at each other. 

"She's just upset. She'll be fine. We should split up and look for her."

Tim snapped his fingers. "Great idea! Jen, let's go."

"Wait, the girls can go together." Rohan didn't want to be alone with Whitney.

"No, it'll be best to have a lady with us when we find her." Tim winked at him and mouthed "talk to her." Earning him a glare. He waved at them as he walked downstairs with Jen.

"Let me just put these leftovers up and we can go." She went to unlock the door but her hands were shaking. She dropped the keys. "Shit..."

She bent down to pick them up but so did Rohan. They were face to face. He cleared his throat and picked them up first. "Here."

"Thank you." She took the keys from him but they stayed in the little bubble they had created. "Rohan..."

"Yeah..."

"We need to go." She stood up and opened the door. She was greeted by a very grumpy orange kitten meowing at her feet. She picked Ham up and turned around facing Rohan. "Look who it is."

"Ava?" He moved past Whitney and let out a sigh when he found her curled up in the bed. Asleep. "Thank God..." He could breathe again. He pulled out his phone to let Tim know they found her.

"She knows I leave my window open. She can stay here tonight. It's fine."

"Thanks. I guess we need to discuss this."

"Yeah... we should." She actually felt some relief that he wanted to talk. 

"I'll tell her it's not appropriate to come over here as much as she does. You're... engaged... and you need space."

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵? She thought he'd want to talk about earlier, at least, she had hoped he did.

"I don't need space. I don't want space. I want things to be normal again." She pulled him outside of her room and shut the door, leaving Ava alone to sleep. "We need to talk about us."

"What 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 us?"

"Did you tell Levi I wasn't attractive?"

Rohan winced. "Yes." He watched her face fall. "But only because I couldn't tell him the truth." He put his hands on her waist and pulled her close. "I couldn't tell him that you're all I think about. When we're together my entire world screeches to a halt and you become the air that I breathe. Your laugh is honest to God, my favorite sound on the planet and when you smile, I feel like I might die if I never see it again. You are so beautiful and I don't think you even see it. If I could, I would spend every day telling you how amazing you are." 

She grabbed the back of his neck and if this was a romance novel, their lips would find each others and our story might be over, but this was Whitney, and in true Whitney fashion, she missed her target and slammed his forehead into her nose.

"Jesus Christ! What was that?!"

"Shit! Is my nose bleeding? Oh, fuck, it is." She tilted her head back.

"Are you ok?" He ran to the bathroom and grabbed a rag, he handed it to her.

"Oh my God... I'm so sorry, I feel like an idiot."

He started to laugh because he had never experienced something so ridiculous in his life, soon they were both laughing. Rohan holding his stomach because it hurt from laughing so hard and Whitney with her head held back, bleeding profusely.

"That was the worst... almost first kiss... I've ever had..." She could barely breathe between the laughter, the towel and the blood.

"I mean, I definitely won't forget it." He had finally stopped laughing enough to smile at her. "Let me see."

She moved the towel away from her nose and Rohan put his hands on the sides of her face. She saw concern in his eyes as he looked her over.

"I think you'll live." He winked at her.

"I don't look awful?"

"You look beautiful, as always." He kissed her on the cheek.


	8. You guys are still telling that lie?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The chapter where no one really says anything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Title is from Never Been Kissed.

After the "Disaster Kiss" had happened and Whitney's nose had stopped bleeding, Rohan and Whitney waited for Jen and Tim to get back. 

"So, do you always try to knock guys out when you kiss them, or am I a special case?" He was trying to joke about the situation because he knew she was embarrassed.

She didn't answer, she just looked down at her engagement ring, twirling it around her finger. Levi hadn't even gotten the right size. Rohan's phone rang and she saw the name. Tiff? 𝘞𝘩𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘴 𝙏𝙞𝙛𝙛?? 

Rohan saw her see the name and pout, making him chuckle. Tiff was Tim. They had decided in college to put their contact names as girl names for those "get me out of here, I have a girlfriend" situations. It was dumb and childish but it was them. Rohan was Rowan in Tim's phone. 

"Hey."

"So she's alright?" Tim's words were rushed.

"Yeah, she's asleep now." He looked at Whitney, smiled and stepped out into the hallway. "Are you on your way back? Things are weird here."

"What do you mean?"

"I told Whitney how I felt and then she tried to kiss me and now she has a bloody nose."

"You hit her?!"

"What the hell?? No! When she went to kiss me she rammed her nose into my forehead."

Tim burst into uncontrollable laughter at his friend's misfortune. "What... the... fuck... I'm dying. That did not happen..."

Rohan rolled his eyes. "Look, it's actually good that it happened. She's with Levi."

"But you like her."

"But I shouldn't."

"Yeah, but..."

"No. It's fine. It would have been wrong. I don't want to confuse her."

Whitney had crept up to the door to listen to Rohan's conversation. She didn't like the idea that he could say such sweet things to her and also talk to some bitch named Tiff. 𝘞𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘳. 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘧 𝘴𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘢 𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘣𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘩?

𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘧 𝘴𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵?

𝘞𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘫𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘴? 𝘠𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘥.

𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭.

𝘏𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵.

𝘚𝘰? 𝘏𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭.

𝘞𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘦?

𝘠𝘦𝘴.

𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘛𝘪𝘧𝘧?

Whitney whispered to herself. "Stop talking to yourself." She listened to his conversation.

"Yeah, no. I said you could sleep in my bed. It's not like it would be the first time." He laughed 

𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘭?! 𝘛𝘪𝘧𝘧 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘥?

"That's cute. See ya."

Rohan hung up the phone and went back inside the apartment only to be face to face with a very pissed off Whitney.

"Are you fucking kidding me! Who the hell was that?"

He was completely confused about what caused this latest mood swing but he knew her enough to know she wouldn't back down.

"Excuse me?"

"Look, Rohan. I'm an all or nothing girl! If I'm with someone, I expect them to only be with me. I've been cheated on before and I'm not letting it happen again!"

"Ok...? What are you so mad about?"

She crossed her arms. "Who the hell is Tiff?!"

He shouldn't have laughed but damn it was funny. "Tiff? Are you jealous?"

Her face went blood red and she scoffed. "Of course not! It's just... you said those things earlier... and then you're talking to some other bitch about sharing a bed?!"

He raised an eyebrow. "You were listening to my conversation?"

"It's my apartment. I don't have to explain myself."

"Well it's my phone so neither do I!" 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘮?

"You said you liked me!

"You're engaged!! It doesn't matter what I think. Does it?"

"Oh... right. I forgot..."

"You forgot you were engaged?!" He shook his head. "Whitney. Sweetheart. What is going on?"

"I'm just angry at you." She crossed her arms.

He sighed. "Tiff is Tim." She looked at him confused. "Don't ask, it's dumb. He hurt his back looking for Ava, apparently the Idiot jumped a fence." He laughed at the thought. "My mattress is better so he asked to use it, then he said I could be the little spoon and I said it was cute." 𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘱, 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘦.

"Oh... that makes sense."

He went wide-eyed. "It does?"

"Yeah, you guys have a cute little bromance. I'm kind of jealous."

"God, don't be. It's weird as hell. I've been trying to escape for years."

They both laughed.

"I need to tell you something."

"Ok."

"Ava was upset tonight because of us. She has this idea that we're all becoming a family and when I told her that you were engaged to Levi, she locked herself in her room."

Whitney's eyes filled with tears. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt anyone. Especially Ava." 

"Hey, don't cry. She'll come around, ok?"

She just nodded.

"Well. If it's ok that she stays here, I think I'm going to go home and get some sleep."

She needed him to stay so Jen could tell him.

"No. Please, just stay? Please?"

Rohan rubbed his face, he was mentally exhausted. "Ok, I'll stay until Jen gets back." 

"Thank you!" She was thrilled knowing that in possibly less than an hour he would know the truth. She felt her phone vibrate in her pocket, assuming it was Jen, she answered immediately.

"Hey, you almost back yet?"

"Actually yes, how did you know?"

"Levi?!" She looked at Rohan who frowned and pointed to the door

She didn't even care if Levi heard. "Please don't go. Stay."

He shook his head and left. 

"What do you want Levi?" She was furious.

"Thought we could go out and have some fun."

"No. I'm tired."

Levi smiled into the phone. "You kiss him yet?"

She hung up.

==============

Jen woke up face to face with Whitney.

"Morning! Here's some coffee, I've got your clothes together. Go talk to him."

"Can I have a moment to use the restroom?" She smiled at her eager friend.

"Ok, but hurry." Whitney didn't even care if she sounded pushy. She was ready to have her chance at happiness.

She walked into the living room humming, picked up Ham who started purring instantly and she put him on the kitchen table as she sat down to drink her coffee. Levi popped his head up from his place on the couch.

"Hey, you're chipper this morning."

"Yep." She didn't even look up from the paper.

He stood up and stretched walking towards her. He sneered at the orange kitten and leaned down to kiss her on the cheek.

"What was that for?"

"I can't kiss you now?"

She sipped her coffee. "Are you going to be staying here until you leave?"

Levi leaned back against the kitchen counter. "I want to try and make things work between us."

Whitney looked confused. "What?"

"I think we'd be great together."

"Levi, I'm doing you a favor, and then that's it."

He didn't answer her, he just poured himself some coffee. "I'll go look for a place to stay."

She smiled at him. "Thank you."

After he left, Jen came out of her room and grabbed an apple.

"Is Ava up yet?"

Whitney shook her head. "She woke up earlier and we talked. She fell back to sleep."

"Poor thing. So, how should I do this? Just go over there and tell him?"

"I guess, I mean it's weird, right?"

"Maybe a little bit but weird is normal around here." Jen was happy to be doing this for Whitney, she deserved to be happy. She took a bite of the apple. "Wish me luck!" She giggled as she walked out the door.

She knocked three times and Tim answered. In his boxers.

"Oh shit, Jen." He blocked himself with the door. "What's up beautiful."

She blushed. "I actually need to talk to Rohan."

His smile turned into a frown. "Oh... well he had to go help his mom. Can I help you with anything?"

"So, you're alone?"

He grinned. "Yep. You want to come in?"

She nodded and walked inside.

=============

Rohan had finally gotten back from helping his mom set up for her bingo party. All he wanted was a shower and something to eat, he'd pick up Ava and see if Whitney wanted to join them. That wasn't weird.

He opened the door and he was frozen to the spot.

"Oh, God! Tim! Put some clothes on!"

"Shit! Sorry!! Is it already noon?"

Rohan was studying the ceiling like it held all the answers to the universe.

Jen's face was bright red. "Hi, Rohan..."

Still looking at the ceiling, he waved in her direction. "Hey, Jen." He pointed to his left. "There's a robe behind the door."

She ran to the bathroom and shut the door.

"In the living room, Tim? Really?"

"Sorry, I lost track of time."

"I can see that. Please be in your bedroom when I come back." 

"You got it." He winked at Rohan.

===========

Whitney had been so nervous all morning but when Rohan came over and invited her to lunch with him and Ava, her heart soared.

She knew she was smiling like a crazy person but she didn't care because she had been looking forward to him knowing the truth and hopefully making his move.

"Why do they have chicken nuggets and chicken tenders separate? Why not just have a mix of both?"

Ava was studying the menu and commenting on the options.

Rohan nudged her. "Don't pretend you're not getting the cheeseburger with extra pickles." She stuck her tongue out at him and he did the same.

Whitney laughed. She loved spending time with them, they were so close and she knew that they shared a really special bond. She always wished she could have something like that when she was growing up. It also helped that playful Rohan was insanely attractive.

"Uncle Rohan, I have to go to the restroom but don't forget my order!"

He shooed her away playfully, "Yeah, yeah, kid, I got it... one order of chicken livers."

She punched him in the arm. "Gross! You better not order that... Whitney, don't let him." She ran off.

He laughed and looked genuinely happy. 

Whitney leaned forward. "So. Did you talk to Jen?"

His cheeks turned red. "Yeah, I guess you could call it that."

"Great, so... what do you think?"

"Well, it was a shock at first but we're all adults here."

"Exactly!" She laughed. "I'm so glad you feel that way."

"I didn't know you would be this happy about it..."

"Why? It's all I've been thinking about."

"Uhhh, what?" 

She smiled. "I really want this."

"Me too. They're nice together."

"Right! Wait... they??"

"Yeah. Jen and Tim."

Whitney felt so dumb. Jen hadn't talked to him. She'd made her move on Tim.

"Can you excuse me a minute?" She got up and stepped outside to call Jen.

"Hey!"

"You didn't tell him!? Jen!"

"I'm sorry. I was in the moment."

Whitney was done dealing with this. "You know what, it's fine. I'm going to tell him tonight and we'll just say he heard it from you, ok?"

She heard Tim laughing in the background. "Sounds good, Whitney. I have to go!" The line went dead.

She made her way back inside and they laughed and ate their lunch. 

"Whitney. I know we talked about it but you really don't like my uncle?"

"Ava..."

"No, it's ok. I 𝘥𝘰 like your uncle." She met his eyes. "Sometimes things look like one thing but they're really something completely different."

Rohan had no idea what she meant by that but it seemed to satisfy Ava so he was grateful for it. He cleared his throat. "We ready to go home?"

===========

"Why should I help you anyway?"

Levi clenched his jaw. "I think you owe me for all the shit you've pulled, Allegra."

She scoffed at that. "Out of all the women you could get, you pick Whitney! Unbelievable!"

He glared at her, he couldn't believe he was here, practically begging for her help but she was the only one he knew that would do it.

"I should have known better.... just forget it."

"I'll do it."

Levi smiled. "Excellent."

==========

When they got back to the apartment, Whitney asked Rohan if they could talk, Ava ran ahead of them.

"Ava, wait! Go to Whitney's." Their apartment was not age-appropriate.

She shrugged and unlocked the door.

Rohan laughed. "You gave her a key?"

"Thought it was better than having her come through the window like last time." She smiled at him.

"Thank you. For being so nice to her."

"Of course, she's a great kid."

"She is, isn't she?" He leaned against the wall. "So... what's up?"

Whitney felt her heart start to race. Why was she nervous? She had been waiting all day for him to find out the truth. She felt herself blush. 𝘚𝘱𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘵!

"Levi and I aren't..."

"Whitney!" 𝘚𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘋𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘭. She felt him slip an arm around her waist. "Hey gorgeous."

"Levi. What a 𝘸𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘶𝘭 surprise... I'm talking to Rohan."

He smiled at her. "Oh, no problem. Hey! Why don't we all go out tonight?"

Rohan looked to Whitney. 𝘎𝘰 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮? He was not about to be the lame third wheel.

"No thanks, I'm good, but you kids have fun."

Whitney wanted to punch Levi in his smug face. What the hell was he doing? She told him this morning that she didn't want to have anything with him.

Levi kept talking. "Come on man! It'll be fun! We could double date."

"I don't think..." she had to stop this. Rohan looked super uncomfortable and she hated that for him.

"I'm not really seeing anyone at the moment." 𝘉𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘢 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦. 𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭.

Levi raised an eyebrow. "Oh really? What about Sammi?"

Whitney was angry that he would bring that up. "Levi! That's none of your business!"

Rohan laughed. "It's ok Whitney." He was apparently in a pissing contest with an Olympic swimmer, what the hell had happened to his life. "Sammi and I only went on a couple of dates. We're better as friends."

Levi laughed. "Ouch. That seems to be a pattern with you, huh?"

Whitney gasped. "Levi!"

"Hey, we're just joking around, right, Rohan?"

"Yeah. Just jokes." 

Levi patted his shoulder. "Tonight. Eight. Wear something nice."

"I don't have a date."

He kissed Whitney's cheek. "I know a girl."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading about my Idiots 🤞❤


	9. Don't cry at the beginning of a date. Cry at the end, like I do.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rohan isn't an idiot you guys...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey hey! 
> 
> I really like this chapter. Whitney is my Queen. 🧡👑
> 
> Chapter title is from Jerry Maguire

"Fuck. Me."

Rohan was a mess. Which seemed to be his normal lately. He couldn't believe he was going out on a double date with Whitney, Levi and whatever Levi thought was appropriate. He wasn't surprised that the swimmer hated him. It was obvious he had feelings for Whitney but damn he was relentless. 

"𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘩𝘶𝘩?"

Dick.

He was figuring out what to wear when he got a text.

𝗪𝗵𝗶𝘁𝗻𝗲𝘆: I am so sorry!

𝗥𝗼𝗵𝗮𝗻: For what?

𝗪𝗵𝗶𝘁𝗻𝗲𝘆: For Levi being an asshole to you!

𝗥𝗼𝗵𝗮𝗻: I thought that was just him.

𝗪𝗵𝗶𝘁𝗻𝗲𝘆: 🤣

He smiled at her response but he was so confused. They didn't seem like they were engaged at all. He got another text.

𝗪𝗵𝗶𝘁𝗻𝗲𝘆: Meet me on the roof in 25 minutes.

𝗥𝗼𝗵𝗮𝗻: 👍

He knew she only went to the roof to smoke and she only smoked when she was, in her words, mega stressed.

"Hey, man. Where are you going?" Tim stopped in the doorway of Rohan's room.

"I got sucked into a double date with Whitney and Levi."

"Ouch. Who are you taking?"

"I don't know. Levi said he 'knew a girl' so God knows."

Tim nodded. "Probably some groupie."

Rohan chuckled at that. "Do swimmers have groupies?"

"Dude. I have groupies. I'm sure he does too." He shrugged. "He's been on TV."

"Wonderful."

"So, who's watching Ava?"

"Mom. She's taking her to some event."

Tim sat on the foot of his bed. "Can we talk?"

"Thought we were?"

"I mean, seriously."

Rohan stopped what he was doing. "Ok. Shoot."

"I feel bad that I haven't told you, but Jen and I have been dating for a month."

He smiled at him."That's great man! I assumed something was up after earlier."

"I really like her."

"That's awesome."

"Is it?" Tim frowned. 

"Why wouldn't it be?"

He sighed. "Rochelle..."

Rohan felt for Tim. He got it, it was unfair to everyone, losing her, but Tim never got the chance to tell her how he felt and she never did either. It was time he knew. He sat next to his friend and put his hand on his knee.

"Rochelle loved you. She threatened me with death if I told you, she said it wasn't fair to you. But, she's gone. It's ok to live your life. She'd want that."

Tim had tears in his eyes and he hugged him."I just miss her so much. All the time."

"I do too. Every single day." Rohan laughed softly. "You know, she always told me to watch out for you. Said she'd come back and haunt me if anything ever happened to you."

Tim wiped his eyes. "I think she'd like Jen."

"She'd love her! They have the same drive to help others."

"She'd like Whitney too."

Rohan nodded. "I think you're right."

"I know we usually joke but I want you to know that just because she's engaged to him doesn't mean she's off limits. She's not happy. It's written all over her face. She tried to kiss you. Fight for her."

He smiled. "Thanks, man."

Tim stood up and fist bumped him. "Enough mushy stuff. I need to go get ready for tonight. Enjoy your date!"

Rohan looked at his phone. He needed to go meet Whitney.

=========

𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘦?

She had told him to meet her on the roof. He wasn't late but she was early and she hated waiting. Gave her anxiety. She took a long drag on her cigarette, holding the smoke in as if it would absorb all her fears and finally blew it out on a slow exhale. 

"Hey."

She tossed the cigarette over the roof as she turned towards him.

"Hey."

Rohan laughed. "That's bad for the environment, ya know?" 

Whitney rolled her eyes. "You're late."

"No I'm not. You're just early." He walked up next to her. "What was so important it couldn't wait?"

"I'm so sorry that Levi said those things, they were completely uncalled for and I told him he was wrong. I can't believe he could be so nasty to you especially knowing...."

She kept rambling on but Rohan wasn't listening, he loved listening to her, it wasn't that, it was the fact that he was so damn tired of hearing her say Levi's name and not his. He wanted it to be his name on her lips, angry, happy, as a whisper, any way he could get it there. She grabbed his arm to add emphasis to her rant and really drive it home when he heard Tim's words in the back of his mind.

"𝘍𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘳."

He grabbed her hand and put it on his chest, stopping her mid sentence.

"Do you feel that?"

Her eyes were wide and she seemed speechless, which for Whitney was completely out of character. She nodded.

"Your heart?"

He pulled her into him. "It only beats for you."

"Rohan..."

He smiled. "Sweetheart, you talk to much."

He crashed his lips into hers, he was worried for a split second that she'd be angry but when she kissed him back, putting her arms around his neck, he felt complete. She ran her hands through his hair and whimpered when he ran his tongue across her bottom lip. She felt like the perfect end to his story and damn it, he wanted to get there as fast as he could. She moaned into his mouth and he needed more of her, anything he could get. He pushed her back into the roof entrance door and she wrapped her legs around him. He pulled away from her, causing her to pout until he started trailing kisses down her neck, whispering how perfect she was.

"Yes, please..." she had wanted this for so long and she never wanted to let him go.

She felt her phone buzz. 𝘍𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘭𝘺?! She ignored it and started unbuttoning his top. It buzzed again.

Rohan stopped kissing her and set her down on her feet.

"No, no, don't stop, please... I'll throw it off the roof." 

He kissed the back of her hand, laughing softly at what she just said. "If you weren't engaged, I wouldn't stop."

"Rohan, Levi and I aren't–" her phone started ringing. "God damn it!"

She answered it. "What!? What, what what?! The world better be fucking ending!"

"We have reservations at eight. We need to go. Can you text Rohan?" 

"Uhh, yeah." She glanced at him trying to pull himself together. "I'll text him right now." She hung up.

"Time to go?" He ran a hand through his hair trying to fix it as well as he could.

"Yeah..."

He tucked his shirt back in, looked at her and laughed. "You might need a touch up." He winked at her.

She shrugged. "Let them wonder."

=============

"What the hell happened to you?!"

Whitney bit her lip remembering how Rohan had kissed her, it felt so amazing and she couldn't wait to do it again. "Oh, you know. The wind."

Levi gave her a look. "Right. Well go fix yourself, you look ridiculous."

She skipped to the bathroom giggling, feeling amazing. She'd go on this silly little date and then she could tell him. No more interruptions. She heard Levi open the door and let Rohan's date in. 

"Hey, Babe! You ready?"

"Coming!" Whitney walked out to the living room and stopped dead in her tracks.

"Allegra!? What are you doing here?"

"I'm Ronnie's date."

"His name is Rohan and absolutely not!" She rounded on Levi. "𝘏𝘦𝘳?! You called 𝘩𝘦𝘳?!" This was not happening. Not to 𝘩𝘪𝘮.

Allegra rolled her eyes. "God, Whitney. Always so dramatic. It's just one date."

"It's never just one date with you... you take good people and you ruin them."

"I told you she would be pissed." 

Levi grabbed Whitney's hand. "Come here." He pulled her into the bedroom.

He crossed his arms and glared at her. "This is for your own good. I know that you're infatuated with Rohan but I guarentee you, one night with her and you'll see, there's nothing between you and him. I mean damn Whitney, you're a lack of options. It's pathetic."

Tears welled up in her eyes. "Why are you so awful to me?! I'm doing this for you and you can't even be nice about it! You pretend like there could be something between us but that's so damn laughable! I don't want you, Levi!" 

"Fine! Since you know everything, hear me out. Rohan invites her back to his place tonight, we try to make things work. He turns her down, I end the contract first thing in the morning."

She sniffled. "You swear?"

He held a hand up. "Cross my heart."

Whitney wiped her eyes, she knew nothing would happen. "Deal."

================

Something was wrong, Rohan could tell.

Whitney was extremely jumpy and all around in a bad mood. Was it something he did? She had seemed to enjoy their time on the roof together. He kept trying to meet her eyes but she kept looking away. Her cheeks were red and she was on her fourth glass of wine, they hadn't even gotten their food yet.

"So, Rohan, what do you do?"

"I work security at the Casino."

Allegra ran a nail down his arm. "I 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 a man in uniform."

Levi laughed. "You love a man outside of uniform too."

Whitney did an over the top obnoxious laugh. "I know something funny!"

They all looked at her, she had a look in her eyes that Rohan knew couldn't be good. She didn't wait for anyone to answer.

"Did you know" she giggled. "Did you know that Levi used to fuck her?!" She bust out laughing like it was the funniest thing she'd ever heard in her life. "Gross, right?" 

Rohan choked on his drink, so Allegra was Levi's ex. 𝘑𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘴! 

"Uhh, wow. That's kind of weird man. Setting me up with your ex?"

Whitney wasn't done with them yet, she was just getting started.

"Right?! Can you be... believe that he would leave me and go to 𝘩𝘦𝘳?!"

Rohan chuckled, he 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 believe it. "Absolutely insane."

"Aaaannndddd..." she leaned across the table to whisper to him, failing miserably. "She never got him off." She winked.

Allegra stood up, fists clenched. "What the hell!?"

Whitney waved a hand at her. "Sit down, banshee. No one cares what you think."

"Whitney." Levi was glaring at her. "I think we should leave, clearly you're stressed with the engagement."

"𝘌𝘯𝘨𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵?! Fuck off!" She took her ring off and threw it at him. "I'm done!" She smirked at him. 𝘛𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘢 𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘤 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘶𝘱, 𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘬.

"And while we're all here and talking... how much did he pay you to come out tonight Allegra? What's your nightly rate these days? Twenty bucks?" She pulled out a wrinkled dollar bill from her bra and tossed it at her. "Here's a tip, we won't be needing your 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘴 tonight."

Rohan turned to Allegra, "So... you're a...." she nodded. "And you thought.... that we....?' 

"I'm sorry..."

He glared at Levi. "What the fuck?! Who does that?!"

Whitney grabbed Levi's arm. "Take me home!"

=============

"I can't believe you acted like that! Are you serious?!"

Whitney was staring out the window as Levi yelled at her, it wasn't anything new, she was used to it.

"You were a complete bitch to Allegra, you 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 apologize to her."

"Apologize? Are you serious right now? You set her up with the guy I like and you expect me to be nice to her?! Don't forget the small detail that you used to be with her too. God Levi. You make me sick!"

"You 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 apologize to her and for the next two months you will act like my happy little wife to be. Got it?!"

"I broke up with you. In public."

"I have a lawyer that would say otherwise."

"I hate you." Whitney whispered it but she knew he heard it. 

He clenched his jaw. "You hate yourself because you always mess things up. This is your fault. I asked you a question. You answered it. You could have just said no."

She felt tears coming because he was right. It was all her fault, all she did was jump to conclusions about things and doing that messed everything up. She had been trying so hard to change that and be honest about her feelings but maybe she had waited too long. Rohan kissed her tonight but she had a damn ring on her finger that kept them apart. He asked her to leave Levi and in his eyes, it looked like she had, but now she had to turn around and say the engagement was still on. It would crush him.

When they pulled into the parking lot she saw Allegra getting out of Rohan's truck. Levi just pointed at her and motioned for Whitney to go over there. She groaned as she got out of the car and went up to her.

"Hey Allegra? I just want to say that I'm sorry. I had too much to drink and I said things that were out of line."

"Well, I appreciate that. You should realize how lucky you are." She turned around and stormed off inside the apartment building, Levi followed her.

"You ok?" Rohan hugged her and she felt her heart break knowing what was about to happen.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I apologized to Levi. We're good."

"Wait, you still want to be with him? I thought..."

She pulled away from him. "I'm not right for you Rohan. I'm impulsive and I make 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 bad decisions. You deserve someone better."

"No. Wait. What happened? Something's wrong."

"I have to go."

==============

Even though he knew it was stupid, even though he knew he might regret it. Rohan invited Allegra into his apartment. 

"Crazy night, huh?"

"Yeah, you can say that again." He picked up Ham and tossed him in Ava's room. He didn't want to subject the poor kitten to this.

Allegra walked up behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist. She smelled like an ashtray. At least when Whitney smoked she still smelled nice.

"Why don't you let me take your mind off things." She started to untuck his shirt.

"I really don't think that's a good idea." He shrugged her away.

She crossed her arms. "So then why did you invite me up here?"

"What's going on between you and Levi?" He leaned against the door blocking her from leaving. 

"Nothing. We're friends."

"An Olympic swimmer is 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴 with a girl like you? Seems unlikely."

"We have a history."

"Oh, I'm aware." He looked her up and down and then tilted his head coming to a conclusion. "Wonder what would happen if the media caught wind of the two of you being 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴, especially when he's engaged to someone else."

Allegra frowned and a rush of panic flashed behind her eyes. "What do you want?"

"The truth. I'm not an idiot. I know something is off with them."

She grit her teeth, she didn't see any other way out. "Fine. But you didn't hear it from me."

He shrugged. "Sure, whatever."

"They're not really engaged. She's helping him out for his career. It was supposed to be me but apparently I'm not good enough." She flung herself down on the couch. Rohan made a mental note to burn it. "Levi wanted me to get you to come back with me because Whitney's obsessed with you and he doesn't like it."

He was pissed. "Why didn't she tell me?"

"Couldn't. Contract."

"How long?"

"Six months I think? So, he's here for two more months, gone for the last two, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 he would like it to work out."

"Why?"

"Because he doesn't like to lose and you're the competition. Whitney's the Gold."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!! 🧡🧡


	10. I'll have what she's having...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the morning after and Rohan and Whitney have an argument...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy March 1st!!
> 
> We are marked explicit now, folks!! So just keep that in mind.
> 
> Huge shoutout to Steph (Blueberry_Cupcakes), Lauren (daisybarks) and my Beta, Ashleigh (FuseboxMusebox) for all their help and kind words!
> 
> Check them out!
> 
> Chapter title is from When Harry Met Sally 
> 
> I have marked the smut with *** incase you'd like to skip 🧡

Whitney woke up hungover and ready to sell her soul to not have a headache. She groaned and rolled into Levi's chest.

𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘭?

She shook him awake. "Did you sleep in the bed last night?"

He gave her a lazy smile and nodded. "You didn't complain."

"We... no..."

"Babe, I don't know why you fight it. We're good together." He sat up and kissed her on the forehead. "Really fucking good."

She was mad at herself. When it came to Levi she was either extremely good at keeping her distance or she craved to be with him. She had been doing such a good job resisting him but the alcohol fucked that up.

"Come back to bed." He pulled her down and kissed her. Feelings she had buried instantly floated to the surface and before she knew it she was straddling his him. She couldn't remember why she was so mad at him last night. As he took her top off she remembered the way Rohan had kissed her, the way Allegra had touched him. 

"No. Stop." She rolled off of him. "You invited Allegra last night."

He smirked. "Yeah and we had a deal. You lost." He motioned for her to get back in the bed.

"We don't know for sure."

Levi sighed. "Why don't you go see?" He knew. Allegra had text him that morning.

Whitney didn't bother to change, she walked over to Rohan's with just her long shirt she had gotten in college. It was four sizes too big but she loved how soft it felt against her skin. She flattened her hair a little and knocked on the door. She heard feet shuffling towards the door and smiled expecting him in just his sleep pants. But when the door opened. It was not Rohan.

It was Allegra.

In Rohan's shirt.

And nothing else.

An array of emotions ran through Whitney until she landed on the most rational. Fucking pissed.

"What are 𝘺𝘰𝘶 doing here?"

"Not doing 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 right now."

Rohan rounded the corner behind her.

"Hey, who-" He stopped short when he saw Whitney. She looked upset. "You ok?"

Allegra left them at the door to go get dressed.

"You brought her up to your apartment?"

"I needed to talk to someone. Last night was pretty shitty for me."

Whitney crossed her arms. "So you fuck the first 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 that follows you home?!"

"Excuse me? You think I'd do that? To 𝘺𝘰𝘶?" He was hurt and angry that she'd say that to him. Especially after what he had told her last night on the roof. "What I said to you last night is still true."

Allegra, now dressed in her own clothes, walked up behind him and grabbed his ass. "Thanks for last night." She kissed him on the cheek and winked at Whitney as she left.

He glared at her and then looked to Whitney. "Nothing happened, I swear."

"Oh shut up, Rohan! Do you think I'm stupid?"

He shook his head but before he could answer she had a finger in his face.

"I thought you were different! I thought you cared about me!"

"I am! I do! I didn't have sex with her... we just talked."

"About what?"

He wanted to tell her he knew about the contract but she was pissing him off like she did every fucking day. What he really wanted was to hear her say it.

"About dinner. I was worried about you."

"You could have talked to me! I live next door!"

"Damn it Whitney! Sometimes I hate talking to you because you are so back and forth!"

She shoved him. "You're an asshole!" 

He didn't budge because she was tiny compared to his thick frame and that pissed her off even more so she shoved him again, but this time he grabbed her and crashed his lips into hers. She moaned immediately and hated herself for it, but damn he knew how to kiss her the way she needed him too. He picked her up and kicked the door shut, shoving her up against the wall. 

She whispered in his ear. "There is no me and Levi." 

He nodded, "I know."

He trailed kisses down her neck and for a few seconds she allowed herself to give in and enjoy it. She pulled his hair making him softly bite her neck, pulling another moan from her, that's what pulled her out of it. She wiggled against him.

"Put me down!"

He did and she slapped him across the face.

"What the fuck was that for?!"

"You can't kiss me and think everything is better! Especially after being with that whore!"

Rohan grit his teeth. "For the last time, I didn't fuck her."

Whitney slipped under his arm and walked into the kitchen while Rohan tried to calm himself down. She drove him crazy and he wanted her so bad but this fight seemed different than their usual fights. Following her, he watched her open the fridge and drink directly from the orange juice carton.

"If you were thirsty you could have just asked."

"𝘠𝘰𝘶 never ask."

"Fair." He sighed. "What is going on between us?" That was the million dollar question that he needed the answer to.

Whitney shrugged. "Nothing right now."

He scoffed at that. "That's the shit that pisses me off. Your fucking attitude and that smartass mouth."

She walked towards the door and hollered over her shoulder. "Well. It's not your problem, is it?"

"Nope. It's Levi's. Thank God for that. If it were my problem I'd shut you the hell up."

"Oh yeah?" She turned around to face him, smirking. "You're such a big man, Prove it."

He wasn't sure who moved first but somehow she was in his arms, kissing him, while bitching about how annoying he was. He grabbed her hair and pulled her head back.

"Do you ever shut up?!"

She stared at him as if it was a challenge and sneered at him. "I was told you'd shut me up."

***

God, she was really testing his fucking patience. He tightened his grip on her hair. "Then get on your knees."

She licked her lips and slid his pants down. He was so damn hard for her that when her lips wrapped around him he felt his knees buckle. Luckily, he was able to lean against the back of the couch as she cupped his balls and took all of him, hitting the back of her throat. He looked down and watched her as she squeezed him and licked up his entire cock, reaching for his hand. She placed it on the back of her head, her eyes telling him what she wanted. Tangling his hand into her hair, he thrust into the back of her throat until she started touching herself. That was his undoing.

Letting out a growl, he picked her up, carrying her to his bedroom. He shoved her down on the bed and pulled his shirt off as she bit her lip and reached for him. Shivers ran down her entire body as he trailed kisses up her stomach. She was growing impatient and pulled his mouth up to hers, flicking her tongue over his, making him moan as he moved his hand up her thigh. 

Then, with a huff, she pulled away from him. "Are you going to fuck me or not? I have things to do."

"Turn over," he growled in her ear.

She did and he put his arm under her stomach bringing her up on her knees. As he pulled her shirt up he saw she had nothing on underneath it.

"Fuck. Whitney."

He grabbed a condom and he really didn't give a damn if she was ready or not, so he slammed into her, making her gasp. Pushing back against him, she clawed at the sheets as he thrust in and out of her harder every time. 

"Yes, just like that."

He slapped her ass and she moaned, burying her head into his pillow. He felt so good she thought she might cry, but he couldn't know that; she liked this side of him, she needed it. 

Rohan pulled out of her and in one swift movement she was on her back.

"Rohan..."

He lifted one of her legs up as he went deeper. As she started to come around him, her back arched and her legs shook. She ran her hands through his hair, kissing him. He looked down at her and she looked gorgeous laying in his bed, wet with sweat and begging him to come for her. He felt something inside him shift and he remembered their time together last night. He didn't want to fight with her anymore.

He continued his pace, while kissing her gently. She was so tight he couldn't focus on anything but how amazing she felt, he wanted to tell her everything but he couldn't speak, he'd lost the ability. She grabbed the back of his neck forcing him to look at her. She kissed him and whispered in his ear. That's all it took for him to find his release, collapsing on top of her.

***

Whitney held on to him as he nuzzled into her neck, kissing her lightly and making her giggle. It was his heaven and he felt like staying here forever, or as long as she would allow.

She ran her fingers through his hair. "I should go." 

"No. You should stay." He rolled over and pulled her to his chest. "I can make you breakfast."

𝘋𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘪𝘵... "Did you make Allegra breakfast too?" She rolled over to face him.

Frowning, he looked into her eyes. "No. Why would I lie to you? Nothing happened." He sat up and rubbed his face in frustration. "I wouldn't do that, especially after last night. I just want to be with you."

"I'm sorry. It's just not that easy."

"Because of Levi?"

She nodded and a tear rolled down her cheek. "It's not fair to you."

"Don't I have a say in this? I haven't cared for anyone the way I care for you, in a very long time. I don't want to lose that." He was desperate and pouring out his soul to her because she already owned every corner of his existence anyway. "Just turn your mind off and let me make the decisions for awhile, ok?"

"No, I'm not going to do that to you." She got up and fixed her shirt. "Can we just forget this happened?" She made her way to the front door with him right behind her.

That pissed him off. "Are you fucking kidding me? 𝘍𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘵? No."

Whitney stood in the doorway, looking defeated. "Well, that's unfortunate because when I walk out of here it's going to be way harder on you than me."

He let out a sad laugh. "Keep telling yourself that, sweetheart. Call me when you're ready for a 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭 relationship." 

The door slammed between them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! 🧡
> 
> I love you 😁


	11. As you wish?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Whitney and Rohan actually go on a date?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title is from The Princess Bride 
> 
> Shout out to my beautiful Beta, Ashleigh (FuseboxMusebox) I'm sorry these characters suck!
> 
> Y'all. Are girl is drowning right now.

Whitney kept finding herself in Rohan's bed.

The night after their "fight", she had only walked over to borrow some sugar. She ended up naked.

The next two times were to yell at him for a reason she couldn't remember because by the time she started to yell she was in his bedroom.

And then tonight was just supposed to be to give him his mail, a brochure that had fallen between the mailboxes back when he first moved in because who was she to decide what was or wasn't important to someone.

"Is this our new normal?" 

Whitney sighed, she was cuddled up to Rohan, tracing small circles on his hand that laid across his chest. "This was the last time."

He laughed and pulled her into a kiss. "That's what you said two days ago."

"I mean it. No more."

"Why not? Just let me take you out on a date."

She shook her head, resisting him was getting harder to do but her body always did what it was told even when her mouth couldn't be trusted.

"Please? Last weekend you wanted this. What changed?"

Instead of answering him, she sat up and slowly started putting her clothes on. He was right, a week ago she 𝘥𝘪𝘥 want this but now she had convinced herself that Levi was right, she was a lack of options.

"Just, let it go, Rohan. People have sex all the time and don't date."

"So I'm just supposed to wait for you? You just come over whenever it's convenient for you?"

"You haven't been complaining."

That wasn't a lie. He was taking what he could get from her because he didn't want to think of not being with her at all. It was not something he normally did, he dated, he held hands, he had relationships. Not friends with benefits. 

She opened his window leading to the fire escape that had been her quick exit home every night this week. Before leaving she walked back over to his bed and kissed him on the cheek.

"Tomorrow."

He grabbed her hand to stop her. "No. You go out with me or this stops."

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, ok."

"I mean it."

"See you tomorrow, Rohan."

Whitney climbed out his window and climbed into her own. It was dark and she tripped over Levi's shoes because she forgot to leave her light on.

"Shiiit!" She landed face-first onto her floor.

"What are you doing?" Jen flicked on her bedroom lamp, making her gasp.

"Oh, Jen. You scared me!" She picked herself up off the floor. "I was just smoking."

"On the fire escape?"

"Yeah, I go out there when I just need a quick smoke before bed."

"Sit." 

"Ok... Jen are you ok?"

"Whitney, shut the fuck up!"

Whitney sat down slowly. Jen only cursed when she was pissed and she was never pissed.

"Why are you doing this? You have been waltzing around this apartment like you're in some sort of damn romantic comedy practically swooning over our neighbor and now he not only knows the truth but he still wants to date you and you're just fucking him?! Have you lost your damn mind?" She put her hands on her hips.

"Jen, I-"

"Unless you're about to say, 'thank you, Jen, I am a dumbass' don't talk to me!"

"I don't know what I'm doing! Levi said that I was just a lack of options and I think he's right." She hugged a pillow. "I'm not good enough." 

"Oh, Whitney." She sat next to her. "Levi is the one who isn't good enough and he knows it."

"So what? I'll have a fiance 𝘢𝘯𝘥 a boyfriend?"

"No. You'll have a 𝘧𝘢𝘬𝘦 fiance and a guy who treats you like you should be treated. If I was Rohan, I'd make you work for that boyfriend title." She nudged Whitney with her shoulder. "Go talk to him. And use the door, you're a lady."

"I'm scared. What if he–"

"Turns out to be like Levi?"

Whitney nodded. She couldn't handle another Levi situation. 

"Go! Or I'm kicking you out!" She giggled and shoved her towards the door. "Don't come back without a date."

As Whitney walked down the hallway to Rohan's apartment she felt faint. All men were the same when it came to relationships. They never worked for it, for her. Granted, Levi was her only comparison but her Dad had done the same to her mother. She took a deep breath to steady her nerves and knocked.

When the door opened she had a vision of Allegra being there but instead, it was Tim.

"Whitney. Hey."

"Hey, Tim. I need to talk to Rohan..."

Tim smirked. "Forget to tell him something before you left?"

She blushed. "I don't know what you mean?"

He shrugged. "Yeah, me either..."

Rohan came to the door. "Leave her alone, Tim. At least we stay in the bedroom."

Tim blushed at that. "Speaking of... Jen home?" He walked down the hall.

"You ok? You need some sugar?" He winked at her. "We're fresh out."

"Can we talk?"

"Of course. Come in."

Rohan sat on the couch but she stayed standing, pacing back and forth.

"I'm sorry I've been sending mixed signals. I 𝘥𝘰 want to be with you but I'm scared because I've really only had one real relationship and we all see how that turned out." She rearranged a couple of picture frames on the bookshelf before continuing. "You 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 didn't sleep with Allegra?" She was still focused on the picture frames.

"No. I did not sleep with her."

"Levi said you did."

𝘖𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥. 𝘍𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘥.

"Well, Levi is a liar. That's been proven. Just look at the ring on your finger." He winced after saying it, he didn't want to upset her but damn that fucking guy.

Whitney turned towards him, arms wrapped around herself like a shield. 

"You're ok with dating me even though he'll be around?"

He shrugged. "I don't really have a choice, do I?"

She shook her head. "Unfortunately, no."

"Then I'll deal with it."

Whitney felt tears forming. "You don't think I'm a lack of options?"

Rohan stood up and pulled her into his chest, she fit perfectly against him. "Is that the shit he's been telling you?" She nodded against him and he looked down at her. "You're not a lack of options. You're my 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 option." She looked confused, making him laugh softly. "Which means, I will choose you every single time because no one else will ever compare to you. You're crazy and sweet and completely confusing and I can't get enough of you."

She bit her lip. "Should we continue this in the bedroom?"

He shook his head and laughed. "No way, no more sex until after our date. I know your stubborn ass will try to back out."

She pouted. "That's ridiculous."

"Get used to it."

===========

"You need pens? Here's a box of fifty."

Ava rolled her eyes and sighed. "Those are boring. These," She pointed to the package she was holding. "are cute and colorful." She tossed them in the cart.

"Right. That's the important thing. What else?"

Rohan and Tim were getting Ava ready to start school in two weeks, she was evolving into a moody teenager and they were not ready for that.

"Clothes." She led them to the clothing section and started looking through the racks.

"Do you think we'll get out of here before it's night?" 

Tim watched Ava grab a pile of shirts. "Probably not."

Rohan sighed. "You didn't have to come."

"And leave you with a thirteen-year-old, alone? I wouldn't do that to my worse enemy."

Ava looked at them. "I want to try these on."

They sat on a bench in the dressing room area because Rohan wasn't stupid. He wasn't going to let his niece wear something inappropriate. She stepped out in the first outfit.

"Absolutely not. Next."

"What?! Why?"

"That skirt is way too short." Tim couldn't believe they made kids clothes like that.

"Whitney has one just like it!" She put her hands on her hips.

"Whitney is an adult. Next."

She glared at them both and stomped back into the dressing room.

Tim leaned over. "Speaking of Whitney, you two ok?"

Rohan smiled. "Yeah, we're going out finally."

"Thank God! Your eyes are all heart emoji lately."

"Heart emoji?"

Tim nodded. "It's what the kids say."

Ava was back out. "What do we say?"

Rohan saw her jeans. "What are you wearing? Hell no! Why are they ripped there? No rips!!"

She rolled her eyes. "Rips are cool." 

"Great! We'll buy you a nice pair of jeans and rip them in appropriate places." Tim ran up and covered her with his Jacket. "Sound good?"

"You two are so uncool!"

"You hear that Tim? We're uncool!" He raised his voice. "I can't believe this! My life goal is shattered!"

Tim burst out laughing and joined in. "Nooo! I'm lame!! The audacity!!"

Her face turned red and she ran back into the dressing room.

"She used to be cute and thought we were funny. What happened?"

Rohan shook his head. "I don't know, it's like she woke up and she was a different person."

"Fucking puberty... so, when are you going out with Whitney?"

"This weekend."

"I'm happy for you. Don't fuck it up." He looked up to see Ava's next outfit. "You are not wearing hooker boots in eighth grade!"

=========

Whitney was looking at herself in the mirror contemplating if she should call the date off. Rohan wouldn't tell her where they were going so she had no idea what to wear and she did not like being left in the dark. The only thing he told her was just to be comfortable and she had no clue what that meant. Comfortable on the date? Comfortable clothes? Comfortable shoes? God, her mind was racing.

"Jen? If you ask your date what to wear and he says, just be comfortable, what do you think that means?"

"Pretty sure it means to dress comfortable." She tried not to giggle at her friend.

Whitney was nothing but anxious on dates, always had been, thanks to one Olympic swimming pool size douche. He was never happy with anything she did. Her clothes weren't nice enough, she used the wrong spoon, she laughed at weird times during a movie. Jen had never hated anyone before Levi and she couldn't wait until he left their lives for good.

Jen knew what Rohan had planned because he had asked her for help, she was so happy he was nothing like Levi. He might be the polar opposite and that's exactly what Whitney needed right now.

"So, this outfit is ok?" She was wearing jeans with a cute flowy top that had little bluebirds on it.

"It's perfect."

There was a knock at the door, making Whitney jump and Jen finally let out her laughter she'd been holding in.

Jen nudged her. "Well... go open it!"

"You open it."

"Why? Do you want me to go on your date?"

"Jen, please? I can't move."

She sighed and walked towards the door leaving Whitney alone in the bathroom. Jen opened the door and Rohan's smile quickly faded to confusion.

"Where is she?"

Jen gave him a pointed look. "I told you, she gets severe anxiety on dates so we're just having a moment but everything will be fine."

"Should I talk to her?"

She nodded. "Can't hurt."

Rohan found Whitney in her room, organizing her books, standing in the doorway he watched her for a few seconds as she ran her finger down a book's spine while deciding where to place it. He cleared his throat causing her to turn towards him.

"You ok?"

"My feet wouldn't move."

His favorite side of Whitney was this one, cute and awkward. It made him want to know everything about her.

"I hate when that happens. Are they ok now?"

She nodded while she blushed and bit her lip. 

Rohan smiled and took her hand into his. "Why don't we go up to the roof first? Calm down a little."

"I'd like that!"

They said goodbye to Jen, who told them to be good. When they got to the door leading to the roof, he squeezed her hand and she saw that the roof had been transformed. Instead of two broken lawn chairs and the old pot that held cigarette butts, there were two inflatable mattresses with blankets and pillows facing a projector screen that had been set up. 

Rohan turned to her. "Do you like it?"

"You did this?"

"Well, Tim helped set it up and Jen gave me some ideas but–"

She touched his arm. "No, I mean, you did all of this, for 𝘮𝘦?"

"I'd do anything for you, Whitney. I wanted you to know that."

Whitney threw herself at him, wrapping her arms around him in a tight hug.

"Thank you. It's perfect."

He fought the urge to tell her that 𝘴𝘩𝘦 was perfect because how cheesy could you be on the first date? 

"Are you hungry? I got pizza."

"Starving."

They sat down to eat and Rohan let her choose a movie. She scrolled through the options until she found one of her favorites.

"We're definitely watching 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘉𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘦." She handed the remote to him.

"As you wish." He pressed play and Whitney snuggled into his side.

It was official, this was the best date she had ever been on. She laughed at her favorite parts and Rohan either laughed with her or he kissed her on the head and said she was cute. Why did she ever think that he would be like Levi? She felt relaxed with no pressure to be someone she wasn't. It really 𝘸𝘢𝘴 perfect... and that terrified her.

Whitney kissed him and the movie was forgotten. She giggled as she threw the comforter over them and tried to pull his shirt off. Rohan stopped her and shook his head.

"This is a first date. I told you before that I'm a gentleman."

She raised an eyebrow. "You weren't a gentleman when I was sitting on your face two days ago."

He laughed. "That wasn't a date."

She pouted. "It was fun though..."

"It was. Ten out of ten, would recommend, but this is fun too."

They laid there for a few more hours just enjoying each other's company. Laughing, kissing, Rohan annoyingly telling her no. 

"Should we go?"

It was an innocent question but she saw Levi's face in her mind when he said it and she remembered what he said. 

"𝘠𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦, 𝘚𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵. 𝘠𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘺-𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵. 𝘠𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳."

"Done with me already?"

"No, it's just getting late."

She crossed her arms. "You work nights."

"Ok... but I have a thirteen-year-old who gets up at eight in the morning." He laughed nervously, unsure why her mood had shifted.

"Right. I 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘸 this was a mistake. Guess Allegra is the only one who can sleep over?"

He was trying to keep his cool but that pissed him off. "I told you nothing happened! Fuck! I am not Levi!"

"I just wish you would have asked me out that day instead of wimping out."

"Wimping out? At that moment I thought you were with Levi...." Rohan sighed. "I don't want to fight with you." He tried to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear but she shoved him away.

"If you would have just told me how you felt that night, things would be different."

"So this my fault? I didn't force you to say yes!"

Without a word, she got up and left him alone on the roof. He didn't go after her right away because he knew things would just get worse if he did.

After thirty minutes he headed down to her apartment and knocked on the door. Jen answered the door and shook her head.

"She's pretty upset."

"Why does she always have to argue with me? I'm not sure what to do here."

She smiled. "Keep showing up, Rohan. She's used to people leaving so she pushes your buttons to see if you will too. For what it's worth, you're doing great."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I loves YOU 
> 
> I am on things like Reddit (ThoracicOrchid) and tumblr (come find me 😘)


	12. We get to choose who we let into our weird little worlds.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Whitney makes a decision. (Thank the Lord)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shout out to my lovely Beta, Ashleigh (FuseboxMusebox) Thank you for everything you do!! I know I'm spammy af some days 🧡😭
> 
> Chapter title is from Good Will Hunting

Rohan decided to take Jen's advice and act like everything was fine because technically, it was.

So, like every Tuesday, he got dressed for work and knocked on apartment 4D. Whitney hesitantly opened the door.

"Hi."

"Hey, you ready?"

"You're going to give me a ride to work?"

Rohan smiled. "Looks like it. Did you want to walk instead?"

That made her smile. "No, I just thought you were mad at me."

"Nope." He reached for her hand. "Let's go, sweetheart."

She shut the door behind her and walked hand in hand with him to the truck.

"I don't understand... I walked away from our date."

He shrugged. "It was over."

"But you're not mad?"

He shook his head and opened the door for her. As he got in on his side, he turned the radio on.

"You like this song, right?" It was Queen, she loved everything from them.

She nodded. "You remembered?" It was something random she told him once at work while they were trying to make it through the night.

"I remember everything you tell me, Whitney." He smiled at her and she felt butterflies in her stomach. 

What the hell was going on? They shouldn't be talking, he should hate her but he didn't seem to at all.

"Oh. Everything? Is that supposed to impress me?" She crossed her arms.

Rohan pulled the truck into a parking spot and turned the engine off. 

"To be honest, I don't care if it does or not." 

He pulled her towards him, thank God for old trucks and bench seats, he kissed her like he couldn't get enough of her because in his reality he couldn't. He pulled away from her but she looked so cute with her eyes still closed that he kissed her again, softly cradling her face in his hands. 

"You can't get rid of me, sweetheart."

==============

Whitney didn't understand what was happening. 

She had pulled her emergency get-out-of there maneuver but Rohan was acting like it didn't happen.

Was she self-sabotaging? Yep.

Did she feel better with space between them? Of course.

Was she an idiot? No doubt.

Being busy with work was Whitney's saving grace. She checked people in, organized the office, comped three high rollers an extra week and she got two phone numbers despite the engagement ring on her finger. She threw those away immediately, two idiotic men in her life were enough.

She had also skipped her lunch to one, avoid Rohan and two, she just didn't have time. She was printing off the shift end report when a bag of chips was thrown at her.

"You didn't eat."

She didn't look away from her computer screen. "Tonight's been busy."

"Well, when you're done, we'll go get breakfast."

"Oh, no. I'm alright." 𝘚𝘩𝘶𝘵 𝘶𝘱, 𝘞𝘩𝘪𝘵𝘯𝘦𝘺!

"Well, I'm hungry so you can watch me eat I guess," Rohan smirked at her.

Whitney sighed at him and put the paperwork in the safe. "Ok. We can go."

============

It had been one week and Whitney was falling under Rohan's spell. She felt the pull towards him get stronger every day and she was tired of fighting it. Levi had gotten a new sponsor and he was leaving tomorrow, an entire month early, which made her decision much easier. She had decided that if Rohan 𝘥𝘪𝘥 turn out to be like Levi she would just have to deal with that when it came. 

However, standing in the mirror, trying to convince herself to take that chance was the problem of the day. She had already been here. She had put her heart out there, and Rohan had hesitated leaving doubt behind. Amazingly, she had managed to push through the fear and still tried to be with him only to be derailed by Levi and Allegra, like always. 

She hated that Levi's words had such an effect on her. He made her believe that no one could ever love her except for him and even that seemed to be a chore for him. Manipulation was his specialty and it worked on her every damn time.

"Well, everything is packed. You could still come with me, you know?"

"Levi. No. I'm staying here."

He shrugged. "Suit yourself." He sat on her bed. "Lucy will contact you with how we'll announce the breakup."

She kept looking in the mirror. "Ok. Sounds good." 

"Then I'll see you next year for the games."

She twirled around, facing him. "What?!"

"The contract states you'll still be supportive and come cheer me on at my first competition. Didn't you read it?"

"Yes, I read it. I thought that meant if things 'evolved naturally between us' I don't want to see you again after you leave tomorrow."

He laughed. "Too bad. You'll be there and you'll put a smile on your face. You think I want to see you after everything you've done to me?"

"Excuse me? Please enlighten me on the things I've done to you." Was he out of his mind?

"Damn it, Whitney! You made me look like an idiot! I can't believe I thought things could work between us." He was shaking from anger. "You could have ruined my career."

"How would things work when you're so damn mean to me?"

"I don't want you with Rohan. He's not right for you."

Whitney laughed. "That's why you did this? Because you felt threatened by someone else? That is so fucking selfish, Levi!"

"Whatever. I'm staying with Miles tonight." He grabbed his bags and left, slamming the door behind him as if she gave a damn.

"Asshole!" Whitney screamed at the door, throwing a shoe.

Her phone signaled that she had a text so she grabbed it off her computer desk.

𝗥𝗼𝗵𝗮𝗻: Please keep it down. It's late. 🤬

She rolled her eyes. 

𝗪𝗵𝗶𝘁𝗻𝗲𝘆: Bite me!

𝗥𝗼𝗵𝗮𝗻: Is that an invitation?

She grinned at his text. 𝘍𝘶𝘤𝘬 𝘪𝘵.

𝗪𝗵𝗶𝘁𝗻𝗲𝘆: You have to ask? Go to bed.

𝗥𝗼𝗵𝗮𝗻: ok.

𝘖𝘬? 𝘚𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘭𝘺? She was fucking done with men, deciding that tomorrow she would go adopt four cats. Rest in peace dating life. She sat down to try and write a bit but as soon as she touched the keyboard, there was a knock at the door.

Irritated, she flung it open. "What?" 

Rohan picked her up, making her laugh. "Thought I told you to go to bed."

"I am." He kissed her and carried her to her bedroom, stopping to put her down and looked at her bed. "How many pillows do you 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥?"

"They're for decoration! They look nice."

"Right." He started to remove them but instead of throwing them on the floor, he set them in the chair beside her window. Noticing the look on her face, he stopped. "Did you want them somewhere else?"

"You didn't put them on the floor."

Rohan couldn't read her face. "Is that where you wanted them?"

"The chair is fine." She walked over to him, wrapping her arms around him. "I'm sorry."

"For what?" 

"For being so difficult. I'm so used to people leaving me that I push and push until I feel safe. What if things don't work out? Never seeing you again? Never seeing Ava? I love having you two in my life."

"Why do you focus so much on what 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 happen? You have to stop that. I haven't left you yet even though you manage to push every button I have." He kissed her forehead. "And I would never take Ava from you. I might actually let you have her. Need an extra roommate?" 

Whitney giggled at that. "Let me guess, she thinks you're uncool?"

Rohan nodded. "Tim's not taking it well."

She grinned. "Tim who?" She kissed him and pulled him towards the bed. "Will you just stay with me?"

"You know I will."

=============

Waking up next to Whitney was, to Rohan, a huge victory. She was wrapped around him, messy hair, snoring softly. In short, she was fucking adorable. He closed his eyes, ready to just sleep in with her when his phone buzzed in his pocket. 

Somehow he managed to fish it out without waking her. It was Tim. Damn, he needed to change his contact name.

𝗧𝗶𝗳𝗳: Where are you? If you're kidnapped tell them we're poor. I'm not negotiating with terrorists. #niceknowingyou

𝗥𝗼𝗵𝗮𝗻: I'm with Whitney. I think we're dating. Officially.

𝗧𝗶𝗳𝗳: Is it on social? That makes it official. Or a baby. Oh no...

𝗥𝗼𝗵𝗮𝗻: SHUT UP I HATE YOU!

𝗧𝗶𝗳𝗳: Love you too sweetheart. 😉🥰

Rohan laughed causing Whitney to open her eyes and kiss him softly on the neck. "Good morning."

"Hey, did you sleep ok?" His mind was racing. Were they together or was this just some crazy friend zone thing? Dear lord, he hoped it wasn't the latter.

Her eyes went wide, and she covered her mouth. "Oh my gosh, I need to brush my teeth. I'm sorry..." she scrambled out of bed but Rohan tightened his hold on her.

"Not until you kiss me good morning." 

The look of horror on her face made him laugh. "But.... morning breath..."

"I signed up for that." He ran his hand through her hair and kissed her. They were definitely together. She smiled against his mouth and ran her hand down to his sweatpants. "No. Gross, you have morning breath." He playfully shoved her off him and got out of bed.

"Hey! That's bullshit!"

"Get dressed. I want to take you somewhere. Be ready in an hour, sweetheart. I have to go wake the preteen." He grinned and kissed her before leaving.

============

"So, you two are dating now?"

Ava was very happy at this morning's development. For the first time in days, she wasn't rolling her eyes and responding with the word, whatever.

"Yep. I hope that's ok with you?" Whitney didn't want her to feel awkward about them.

She shrugged. "I wish you would have picked someone a little less lame than my uncle but it's cool." She giggled at the look on Rohan's face. "I'm kidding. I think it's great!"

"Me too." Rohan took Whitney's hand in his and kissed it.

"Yuck."

"Oh! I have news for both of you!" Whitney smiled at them. "I got offered a teaching job at the school! I'm going to be teaching your class, Ava."

"O.m.g!! No way!" She hugged her. "That means I immediately pass right?"

"Absolutely not..." Rohan frowned at his niece.

"No special treatment. I'm sure you're great in school anyway."

All three of them got into the truck and headed to the outskirts of the city, parking in a space that seemed abandoned.

"Where are we?" Whitney had never been here before.

"Ava and I like to come here most Sundays, right kid?"

She grinned. "Yep. It was my mom's favorite thing." 

The building they had parked in front of looked extremely run down and had vines growing into the brick exterior. When they entered, Whitney could see it was an extremely crowded soup kitchen. She gave Rohan a confused look as he guided her to the back.

"Jake! You busy?"

"Rohan! Thank goodness! We're swamped and I've had three volunteers not show up."

"Jake!" Ava ran over and hugged him around the waist. "Can I serve?"

"Of course! You're everyone's favorite!"

Jake looked up, smiling at Whitney. "I'm sorry. I don't think we've met."

"Oh, I'm Whitney. I'm... well... I'm..." she didn't know how to introduce herself. Was she Rohan's Friend? Girlfriend? Neighbor? Coworker? Royal pain?

Rohan wrapped an arm around her waist. "This is my girl. She's excited to get started."

𝘏𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭? She liked that. 𝘏𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘰, 𝘐'𝘮 𝘞𝘩𝘪𝘵𝘯𝘦𝘺, 𝘙𝘰𝘩𝘢𝘯'𝘴 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭. She bit her lip and smiled.

Jake grinned. "Your girl? Well, she must be really great then." He winked at Ava who giggled. "Let's get started."

Whitney got put on the job of potato peeling with Rohan and she was having a great time. Jake would come over periodically and pick on him while praising her. It made her laugh 

"How do you know Jake? You seem very close."

"Well for about two years, he was my 'special friend' at family events." He glanced at her to see her reaction.

"Special friend?" Her eyes widened. "You mean? You and Jake?"

Rohan nodded. "Yep."

"Wow. Why did things end?"

He shrugged. "When I left to get my doctorate, things just didn't work out. He met a nice girl and we broke up."

"But you stayed friends?"

"Yeah, Rochelle loved him. They opened a restaurant together and this soup kitchen. Giving back was her passion."

Whitney put her knife down and hugged him. "I wish I could have met her."

"Me too. You would have gotten along, she loved picking on me too."

She laughed and kissed him.

"Hey! No cute shit in the kitchen! Cooties!" Jake chuckled at them.

"Hey, Jake! I think you and I should chat." Whitney grinned at him.

"Oh, Rohan! I like her!"

They stayed a few hours at the kitchen helping to clean up until it was finally time to say their goodbyes.

"Jake, call me if you ever need help in here." Whitney hugged him.

"I'll hold you to that." He turned to Rohan. "Could we talk?"

"Of course." Jake was normally not one to keep things secret so he was worried. "See you girls in a minute."

Whitney and Ava walked outside and Jake sighed. "I need help. A lot of help. Rochelle had big plans but I can't keep this up alone." He had tears in his eyes.

"What do you need?"

"I need someone to manage everything. I'm too busy with the restaurant."

"I can't do it. You know I would, Jake but with Ava starting school I'm picking back up at the club." He had asked Tim the other day and he was excited to have more help.

"I understand that but if I don't find someone soon, this place will shut down."

Rohan pulled his phone out. "I might know someone."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have I told you lately that I love you??
> 
> Cause I do 🧡


End file.
